Science Department

The Bridgeton School District's goal for our science curriculum is to implement the Next Generation Science Standards to enhance student learning so that the student is able to understand and apply scientific knowledge. Students who understand can use and apply novel ideas in diverse contexts, drawing connections among multiple representations of a given concept. They appreciate the foundations of knowledge and consider the evidence for claims. Accomplished learners know when to ask a question, how to challenge claims, and where to go to learn more, and they are aware of their own ideas and how these change over time. (NRC, 2007)

The NJDOE approved the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in July 2014. The NGSS provides an important opportunity to improve not only science education but also student achievement. Based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education, the NGSS is intended to reflect a new vision for American science education. The K-12 science education should reflect the interconnected nature of science as it is practiced and experienced in the real world. The vision represented in the Framework is new in that students must be engaged at the nexus of the three dimensions:

  1. Science and Engineering Practices

    The practices describe behaviors that scientists engage in as they investigate and build models and theories about the natural world and the key set of engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build models and systems.

  2. Crosscutting Concepts

    Crosscutting concepts have applications across all domains of science. As such, they are a way of linking the different domains of science. They include Patterns, similarity, and diversity; Cause and effect; Scale, proportion, and quantity; Systems and system models; Energy and matter; Structure and function; Stability and change.

  3. Disciplinary Core Ideas

    Disciplinary core ideas have the power to focus K-12 science curriculum, instruction, and assessments on the most important aspects of science. To be considered core, the ideas should meet at least two of the following criteria and ideally all four:

  • Have broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering disciplines or be a key organizing concept of a single discipline;
  • Provide a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems;
  • Relate to the interests and life experiences of students or be connected to societal or personal concerns that require scientific or technological knowledge;
  • Be teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication.

The Bridgeton School District has implemented Mystery Science in grades K-5 and Science Dimensions for grades 6-8. These programs deliver a holistic science experience, based on inquiry and application across print, digital, and hands-on resources. In grades 9-12, students may take physics, biology, chemistry, and a variety of science-related electives such as Forensic Science and The Math Behind Sports. There are also AP courses offered in many of the same general science courses at the high school.

Links

Science Fair Projects and Ideas Site
National Science Digital Library
New Jersey Student Learning Standards-Science

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