SCIENCE STRAND I:
NATURE OF SCIENCE
Built into this science test is an assessment of students’ abilities and thinking habits in investigating science ideas. The five outcomes in this strand overlap traditional science units and each other and should therefore be reinforced throughout the science curriculum—that is, should be taught in context— at every grade level, in nearly every unit.
1. Use a simple key to classify objects, organisms, and/or phenomena.
This outcome tests students’ abilities to classify or identify things using a simple identification key (dichotomous key, flow chart, key in table or chart format). This can mean using a key to identify which one of a set of objects can be identified by name or as belonging to a particular group; using a key or flow chart to separate large groups of objects into smaller groups; or analyzing a key to determine what characteristic always distinguishes one group, organism, or object from another. Dichotomous keys have two divisions or choices at each step and are typically based on an “either-or” classification system—either something has a particular characteristic or it doesn’t.
The use of a dichotomous key relies on the student’s ability to make clear observations and follow a logical sequence. Students should know how to proceed through a dichotomous key step-by-step, from the beginning, to identify a single unknown object or organism. Students should also be able to go to an object or organism identified in the key, and proceed “backward” thoroughly, step-by-step, to gather or identify all distinguishing characteristics of an object or organism. Important to such processes are practice in following written directions and in reading keys such as those found in many plant and animal “field guide” series.
Any illustrations in test items will clearly display all relevant key characteristics needed to distinguish groups or objects from one another.
2. Identify the potential hazards and/or precautions involved in scientific investigations.
This outcome focuses on identifying basic safety measures (or precautions); explaining the reasons for existing precautions or safety measures; identifying possible dangers to human safety (hazards), equipment or materials, and/or natural ecosystems; and predicting potential hazards or bad results from circumstances. Safety measures addressed in items may include the following: fire, glassware, eye and face, chemical, electrical, and sharps safety; dress code; and clean-up. See Appendix C in Ohio’s Model Competency-Based Science Program for references to specific safety publications and guidelines.
Students should know the limits and rules of acceptable behavior in an activity; they should also be accustomed to discussing safety as part of any activity.
3. Make inferences from observations of phenomena and/or events.
Students should be able to identify inferences that are consistent with data or observations; use known characteristics of plants or animals or their remains to infer or extrapolate other characteristics of those plants or animals (or remains); and use inductive and deductive reasoning with visual representations, charts, text, or graphs in items, to make or identify correct inferences. For instance, if an adult animal has gills, an inference can be made that the animal lives in an aquatic environment.
By the sixth grade, students should clearly understand the difference between an inference and an observation, and should be making inferences about the meaning of observations they (or others) have made, as well as using these inferences to design questions and simple tests to verify their inferences.
4. Identify the positive and/or negative impacts of technology on human activity.
Technology is defined as the application or use of scientific knowledge or inventions; human activity is interpreted to mean “human life activities” broadly, so topics addressed range from health tests and regulations to environmental regulations and issues that impact humans, to procurement of “crucial resources” such as water, food, shelter, etc. Students should be able to identify or deduce from text and/or prior knowledge the positive or negative impacts of a particular technology on human life activities.
Students should be aware that there are few human activities in which impacts are entirely positive or entirely negative. In their explorations and asking of questions, students should have frequent experience in discussing both sides of human activities. From these discussions and explorations, students should be able to make decisions and provide written justification for their decisions.
5. Evaluate conclusions based on scientific data.
This outcome tests students’ abilities to identify or evaluate conclusions from graphs, tables, charts, and/or text information; make conclusions about relationships from data; summarize or identify summaries of data from charts, tables, or graphs; and analyze whether conclusions about test results can be made based on previous test results and known changes to a test set-up. Since scientific data are often presented in graph or table format, items include maps, graphs, or tables (and keys) of data for analysis; item content can range from weather data to physical characteristics of substances (melting point, boiling point) to statistics about populations or natural disasters.
Students should be able to interpret data and make conclusions and decisions based on the data that are critical. Also, since learning in science is often linked to finding flaws in data or conclusions, students should be practiced in relying on their own data (or others’ data) and examining their conclusions for flaws, as well as in examining data for flaws. Students should be practiced in making observations about data, and in distinguishing inferences from observations.
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