| Seven curriculum units
developed by the Center for Gifted Education contain
simulations of real-world problems that face today's
society. The units are geared toward different grade
level clusters, yet can be adapted for use at all levels
K-8. The goals of each unit are to allow students to
analyze several real-world problems, understand the
concept of systems, and design and conduct scientific
experiments. These units also allow students to explore
various scientific topics and identify meaningful scientific
problems for investigation. Through these units, students
experience the work of real science in applying data-handling
skills, analyzing information, evaluating results, and
learning to communicate their understanding to others.
A guide to using the curriculum is also available.
To order one or all of the following units for review
or purchase, contact Kendall/Hunt Publishing at www.kendallhunt.com.
Science Materials
| Title |
Description |
Grade Level |
| Guide to Teaching a Problem-Based Science
Curriculum for High-Ability Learners |
This Guide contains important information related to the implementation of the eight
problem-based units. Concept papers related to systems, experimental design, and problem-based learning are included along with criteria for assessing science curriculum needs at local levels. A resource section for parents and teachers is also provided. |
K - 12 |
| Where's the Beach? |
Plans for building a children’s camp at the beach are on hold because the town council is worried about beach erosion. Since the camp received a large donation to develop nature-themed experiences, designed to teach children how to protect the environment, the camp manager wants to cooperate with the council. The problem is that she must begin construction quickly to be ready for the summer season. Acting as members of the town council, the students must develop scientifically-based regulations that will satisfy the long-term needs of the town and the plans for the new camp.
|
1 - 3 |
| What a Find! |
“What a Find!” is an exploration of the field of archaeology. Students are put in the role of a newly hired archaeologist who is contacted by a construction company crew that has just unearthed some artifacts. The construction company needs your input to determine what the next steps should be. Through the concept of systems, a simulation and scientific investigations of the archaeological processes, students will uncover a solution to the problem.
1999 Winner of a National Association
for Gifted Children Curriculum Division Award
for Outstanding Curriculum |
2 - 4 |
| Acid, Acid Everywhere |
This unit presents the structure of systems
through chemistry, ecological habitats, and transportation.
The unit poses an ill-structured problem that
leads students into an interdisciplinary inquiry
about the structure and interaction of several
systems, centering around the study of an acid
spill on a local highway.
1997 Winner of a National Association
for Gifted Children Curriculum Division Award
for Outstanding Curriculum
|
4 - 6 |
| Electricity City |
This unit provides a creative and interdisciplinary
approach to introducing students to electricity.
In this simulated activity, a large recreational
complex is being built in the middle of a city,
and the students' role is to plan the site's electrical
needs, as well as create additional backup plans.
This "real world" problem requires students
to analyze the situation, determine what type of
research is needed, conduct experiments, and evaluate
solutions.
|
4 - 6 |
| Nuclear Energy: Friend or Foe? |
This unit creatively explores the effects of nuclear
power waste. The topic is introduced through the
eyes of a mayor of a town where a nuclear power
plant is located. She must decide if the facility
can expand its waste disposal techniques. What are
the biological implications of radiation? What are
the trade-offs with which society must live as we
accept nuclear technologies into our lives? These
questions are explored by students as they prepare
to make recommendations about the use of the nuclear
power plant in their fictitious town. |
6 - 8 |
| No Quick Fix |
This unit uses systems as the fundamental concept
to help students understand cell and tuberculosis
biology. In a series of widening concentric circles,
students learn that the cells are elements in larger
systems, such as the immune system of the human
body. Students also interact with human social systems,
including health care and public education. Students
take on the role of physician and begin to search
for the cause and resolution of the problem. While
unraveling the interactions among various systems,
students can appreciate the complexities of staying
healthy in the modern world.
|
6 - 8 |
| Something Fishy |
This unit poses an ill-structured problem that will lead students into an interdisciplinary study about several individual systems and their interactions. The content of the unit focuses on the various systems involved in the pollution of a local body of water: the aquatic ecosystem, chemical reaction systems, government systems, and economic systems. Students are challenged to grapple with real world concerns and develop recommendations through simulation activities based on the scientific process. |
6 - 8 |
Animal Populations |
This curriculum unit integrates population biology and mathematics. The ill-structured problem puts students in the stakeholder role of assistant to the mayor of a small town in which residents are demanding that something be done about the deer that are eating their landscaped plants. Throughout the unit, students deal with physical models, conceptual models, and mathematical models as they tackle the deer problem and the complication of Lyme Disease. |
6 - 8 |
K-3 Science Units
Water Works and Whats the Matter? are now available for purchase from Prufrock Press. The Center for Gifted Education will continue to process orders while supplies last.
| Title |
Description |
Grade Level |
| Survive and Thrive |
This unit engages students in a study of animals, their characteristics, and their natural environments. Students learn how to distinguish features and life needs of animals, and observe animals in their habitats via webcams. Activities include classifying animals according to whether they are tame or wild and living on land or in water, as well as raising mealworms in the classroom to observe their life cycle. The concept of change is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit. |
K-1 |
| How the Sun Makes Our Day |
This unit engages students in investigations and observations that support their learning about the Sun as a source of light and energy, the nature of shadows, and the need for humans to conserve natural resources. Students explore natural and man-made sources and develop a conservation plan for their home, school, or community. The overarching concept of change is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit. |
K-1 |
| Water Works |
The unit engages students in close observation and experimentation on water. The overarching concept of change is reinforced as students notice, react to, reflect on, and discover more about force and change. Students ask questions and design experiments to reinforce their learning. Generalizations about how things change are developed through students’ analysis of their findings. Students explore the characteristics of water, discover whether objects sink or float, experiment to make things float, and examine materials and their interactions with water. |
K-1 |
| Budding Botanists |
This unit engages students in a scenario-based approach to investigating plant life. While assuming the role of botanists to understand the structure, nature, and life cycle of plants, the team members seek to answer questions such as “How can plants be used to fuel cars?” This unit builds upon students’ prior knowledge of plant life and encourages them to use inquiry skills to observe, gather evidence, analyze data, and make inferences. The overarching concept of systems is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit. |
2 |
| The Weather Reporter |
This Earth/Space Science unit provides students with opportunities to observe, measure, and analyze weather phenomena. The Weather Reporter includes a scenario-based approach to allow students to make decisions about observing, predicting, and forecasting the weather. Building upon students’ prior knowledge of weather and their newly acquired understanding of meteorology, The Weather Reporter promotes life-long learning by encouraging students to investigate naturally occurring weather patternsafter the completion of the unit. This unit includes literary and math components to engage students in discussions and to reinforce the concepts addressed in the unit. Additionally, the overarching concept of change is used to deepen student understanding of unit’s scientific concepts. |
2 |
| What's the Matter? |
This unit focuses on the properties of solids, liquids, and gases and the processes by which matter changes states. Students work on problem-solving scenarios where they use their new knowledge of matter, change in physical properties, and the measurement of matter to prepare a presentation to share new ideas and discoveries about matter for a “science conference.” The overarching concept of change is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit. |
2-3 |
| Dig It! |
This is an Earth & Space Science unit. Students are encouraged to investigate humanity’s effects on the environment, the importance of Earth’s natural resources, and sound conservation practices. Using a scenario-based approach, the unit builds upon students’ prior knowledge by providing opportunities to relate local examples of environmental pollution and conservation with hands-on scientific experiments and demonstrations. Dig It! also includes literary and math components to engage students in discussions and to reinforce the concepts addressed in the unit. The overarching concept of change is used to deepen understanding of scientific concepts in this unit. |
3 |
| Invitation to Invent |
This unit engages students in investigations and observations that support their learning about simple machines and their uses. Students explore force, motion, and friction as they learn about the six simple machines and how they are put together to form compound machines. The overarching concept of systems is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit. |
3 |
Click here to order
our K-3 science units
Questions and Answers
about Using the Science Curriculum
How were the William and Mary
science units developed?
The science units were developed as part of a
project funded by the United States Department of Education.
The National Science Curriculum Project examined major
recommendations from national science reform reports,
as well as a review of the literature on effective science
curriculum for high ability learners, to develop the
rationale on which the William and Mary science curriculum
is based. This rationale was developed through the collaborative
efforts of project staff, consultants, scientists, science
teachers, and gifted education specialists.
The rationale was translated into six key goals included
in exemplary science curriculum for high ability learners:
(a) study of broad scientific concepts, (b) engagement
in scientific investigation, (c) in-depth opportunities
to learn special topics in science, (d) understanding
the role of science in society and relationship of science
to all areas of human activity, (e) foster curiosity
about the world through problem-based learning, and
(f) understand and develop scientific habits of mind.
Why do the science units use
problem-based learning?
Problem-based learning was chosen for the science
units in order to allow students to acquire significant
science content knowledge in the course of solving an
interdisciplinary, 'real-world' problem. This format
requires students to analyze the problem situation,
to determine what information they need in order to
come up with solutions, and then to find that information
in a variety of ways. The problem-based method also
allows students to model the scientific process, from
the problem-finding and information-gathering steps
to the evaluation of experimental data and the recasting
or solution of the problem.
Why do the science units focus
on the concept of systems?
The use of concepts promotes higher-order thinking
and the use of a conceptual framework supplies a meaningful
way of organizing and incorporating new information,
which then encourages the transfer of knowledge learned
in one situation to other situations. A system forms
a complete and complex whole from a group of interacting,
interrelated, or independent elements. Because students
are themselves elements of or influenced by numerous
systems, they benefit from an understanding of these
systems, their component parts, how systems function,
how they interact and influence one another, and the
outcomes they produce.
The overarching scientific concept of systems provides
students with a framework for the analysis of both their
experiments and the problem as a whole within each science
unit. Examples of systems addressed in the science units
include ecological, transportation, chemical reaction,
and global (i.e., weather, planetary) systems, as well
as political, cultural, economic, and geographical systems.
The units seem to cover material
that would be good for all students to learn. Can I
use these units with students that are not in gifted
classes?
We believe that the units may be used effectively
with students other than high-ability groups. We have
several sites in which teachers use all of the models
with all of their students to some degree. If teachers
are going to try to use the models with all students,
we recommend that they: (a) provide support for students
with content knowledge deficits, (b) allow gifted students
to work together in groups for group activities rather
than making small groups heterogeneous, and (c) modify
the experimental assignment for average-ability students.
What's the time frame for
teaching the units?
Our science curriculum is not really intended
to be core science curriculum and is more of a supplementary
program. It is frequently used for enrichment and extension
rather than as a central emphasis. We estimate that
full implementation for one of the science units ranges
from 6 to 9 weeks of instructional time, depending on
the specific curriculum unit chosen and the weekly amount
of instructional time available.
Is professional development
related to the units available?
Professional development opportunities related
to the Center's curriculum are available periodically
at the College and may also be arranged for local school
districts through our curriculum consultant program.
See the Professional Development page for more information.
Internet Resources
for Science
FOSSWeb – Official Site
of FOSS science curriculum - www.fossweb.com
This site presents information about the FOSS science
curriculum for parents, teachers, schools, and school
systems. Features of this site include interactive introductions
to the various curriculum units available, links to
other web sites related to each content module, and
an “Ask a Scientist” component in each module’s
section.
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
(ENC) for Mathematics and Science Education -
www.enc.org
ENC is located at Ohio State University and funded through
a contract from the U. S. Department of Education. The
mission of the ENC is to identify effective curriculum
resources, create high-quality professional development
materials, and disseminate useful information and products
to improve K-12 mathematics and science teaching and
learning. Features of this site include a database that
lists the contents of a repository of over 23,000 curriculum
resources, reference and information services for educators,
and individualized professional development planning
and resources.
Lawrence Hall of Science, University
of California, Berkeley - www.lhs.berkeley.edu
Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) was established in 1968
in honor of Ernest O. Lawrence, UC’s first Nobel
laureate. LHS is a resource center for preschool through
high school science and mathematics education, a public
science center with exciting hands-on experiences for
learners of all ages, and a national leader in the development
of innovative materials and programs. This site features
three sections that allow visitors to access information
about hands-on exhibits and events, school programs,
professional development, instructional products, and
publications.
National Science Resources Center
- www.nsrconline.org
Formed by the Smithsonian Institution and the National
Academies in 1985, the National Science Resources Center’s
mission is to improve the learning and teaching of science
in school districts in the United States and throughout
the world. This web site features curriculum resources;
information for parents, students, and school systems;
and professional development programs.
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