"The Elementary Science Core Curriculum has been written to assist teachers and supervisors as they prepare curricula, daily instruction, and assessment for the elementary level (grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 4) content and skills of Standards 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology.
"The Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology identifies key ideas and performance indicators. Key ideas are broad, unifying, general statements of what students need to know."
"The performance indicators for each idea are statements of what students should be able to do to provide evidence that they understand the key ideas. As part of this continuum, this core curriculum guide presents major understandings that give more specific detail to the concepts underlying each performance indicator."
What It Should Look Like in the Classroom:
Emphasize a hands-on and minds-on approach to learning.
Students are actively engaged in the discovery process.
Experiences provide opportunities to interact with the natural world to construct explanations.
Children’s natural curiosity leads them to explore the natural world.
Opportunities have direct experiences with common objects, materials, and living things in their environments.
Less memorization of specialized terminology and technical details.
Instruction focuses on understanding important relationships, processes, mechanisms, and applications of concepts.
Opportunity to develop skills of mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design through investigations on a regular basis in grades K-4.
Core Curriculum for Elementary Science
Overview:
"The Elementary Science Core Curriculum has been written to assist teachers and supervisors as they prepare curricula, daily instruction, and assessment for the elementary level (grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 4) content and skills of Standards 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology.
"The Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology identifies key ideas and performance indicators. Key ideas are broad, unifying, general statements of what students need to know."
"The performance indicators for each idea are statements of what students should be able to do to provide evidence that they understand the key ideas. As part of this continuum, this core curriculum guide presents major understandings that give more specific detail to the concepts underlying each performance indicator."
What It Should Look Like in the Classroom:
Links:
New York State Core Curriclum-Elementary Science (PDF)
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