"All school districts [in Iowa] are strongly encouraged to use the National Science Education Standards as the criteria by which they develop their standards and benchmarks."
-Tony Heiting, Science Consultant, Iowa Department of Education
Content Standards for School Science
Source: National Science Education Standards
Published by National Academy Press
Science as Inquiry
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
* Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
* Design and conduct scientific investigations.
* Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
* Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
* Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models.
* Communicate and defend a scientific argument.
Understandings about scientific inquiry
* Conceptual principles and knowledge guide scientific inquiries.
* Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons.
* Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.
* Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry.
* Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and current scientific knowledge.
* Results of scientific inquiry--new knowledge and methods--emerge from different types of investigations and public communication among scientists.
Physical Science
As a result of their activities in grades K-12, all students should develop an understanding of
* Structure of atoms
* Structure and properties of matter
* Chemical reactions Motions and forces
* Conservation of energy and increase in disorder
* Interactions of energy and matter
Life Science
As a result of their activities in grades K-12, all students should develop understanding of
* The cell
* Molecular basis of heredity
* Biological evolution
* Interdependence of organisms
* Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
* Behavior of organisms
Earth and Space Science
As a result of their activities in grades K-12, all students should develop an understanding of
* Energy in the earth system
* Geochemical cycles
* Origin and evolution of the earth system
* Origin and evolution of the universe
Science and Technology
As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop
* Abilities of technological design
* Understandings about science and technology
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop understanding of
* Personal and community health
* Population growth
* Natural resources
* Environmental quality
* Natural and human-induced hazards
* Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
History and Nature of Science
As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop understanding of
* Science as a human endeavor
* Nature of scientific knowledge
* Historical perspectives
Unifying Concepts and Processes
Conceptual and procedural schemes unify science disciplines and provide students with powerful ideas to help them understand the natural world. Because of the underlying principles embodied in this standard, the understandings and abilities described here are repeated in the other content standards. Unifying concepts and processes include:
* Systems, order, and organization
* Evidence, models, and explanation
* Constancy, change, and measurement
* Evolution and equilibrium
* Form and function
