PHILOSOPHY of SCIENCE

The science curriculum is designed to assist Moore Public School teachers in planning, implementing, and assessing a science program that allows “students to develop an understanding of what science is, what science is not, what science can and cannot do, and how science contributes to culture.” (National Science Education Standard, 1996, p. 21) It is based on the belief that:

Science is a human activity that can be characterized by participants processes.
All students can learn and succeed in science.
Learning science is something students do, not something that is done to them. (Active Process)
Everyone can describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena.
Science technology and society are interrelated.
Attitudes toward science established in childhood shape adult scientific literacy.

The goal of the Moore Public Schools is scientific literacy. The National Science Education Standards define scientific literacy as “the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for scientific decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.” The tenets of scientific literacy include the ability to:

Find or determine answers to questions derived form everyday experiences.
Describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena.
Understand articles about science.
Engage in non- technical conservation about the validity of conclusions.
Identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions.
Pose explanations based on evidence derived from one’s work.

This philosophy is based on research, state and federal documents, and ideas of professional societies. Though research shows that all students can learn and succeed in science, all students will not become scientists nor achieve the same level of understanding. Rather, the goal is to create the scientifically literate society crucial to our increasingly complex and technological work.

Research in cognitive science and science education supports the need for concept development through science and technology instruction. All students, in all grades, deserve on-going and meaningful science instruction.