STEM CONCEPTS & STANDARDS
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is powerfully motivating for students, engaging and nurturing their natural curiosity about how the world around them works and functions. Because the world is progressing at such a rapid pace and the need for workers with superior grasps of mathematics, science and technology is exponentially growing, there is a great importance to generate scientifically and technologically literate students within our schools. Providing students with opportunities to learn and excel in these areas creates a powerful and competitive resource for our country.
SCIENCE
INQUIRY PROCESS
This concept establishes a solid basis for learning in science. It focuses upon the use of the scientific processes: questioning, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, and communicating results.
HISTORY & NATURE OF SCIENCE
This concept germinates from the contributions of many people throughout history. It emphasizes the importance of the inclusion of historical perspectives and the advances that each new development brings to technology and human knowledge. The focus is on the human aspects of science and the role that scientists play in the development of various cultures.
SCIENCE IN PERSONAL & SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES
This concept stresses evolving the ability to design a solution to a problem, to understand the relationship between science and technology, and the ways people are involved in both. It concentrates on understanding the impact of science and technology on human activity and the environment. This allows students the opportunity to understand their place in the world – as living creatures, consumers, decision makers, problem solvers, managers, and planners.
LIFE SCIENCE
This concept expands students’ biological understanding of life by focusing on the characteristics of living things, the diversity of life, and how organisms and populations change over time in terms of biological adaptation and genetics. This understanding includes the relationship of structures to their functions and life cycles, interrelationships of matter and energy in living organisms, and the interactions of living organisms with their environment.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
This concept provides students with the opportunity to increase their understanding of the characteristics of objects and materials they encounter daily. Students gain an understanding of the nature of matter and energy, including their forms, the changes they undergo, and their interactions. By studying objects and the forces that act upon them, students develop an understanding of the fundamental laws of motion, knowledge of the various ways energy is stored in a system, and the processes by which energy is transferred between systems and surroundings.
MATHEMATICS
MAKE SENSE OF PROBLEMS & PERSEVERE IN SOLVING THEM
This concept guides students in the ability to explain the meaning of a problem, restate the problem in their own words, analyze given information, develop and execute strategies to solve a problem, evaluate progress toward a solution, make revisions if necessary, check for accuracy and reasonableness, and understand and connect strategies used by others to solve problems.
REASON ABSTRACTLY & QUANTITATIVELY
This concept centers upon the translation of information to create a mathematical representation for a concept, manipulation of the mathematical representation by showing the process and the meaning of the quantities involved, recognition of the relationships between numbers/quantities within the processes to evaluate problems, and the revision of the process for reasonableness.
CONSTRUCT VIABLE ARGUMENTS & CRITIQUE THE REASONING OF OTHERS
This concept supports the use of observations and prior knowledge, the construction and conjecture of arguments based on their previous knowledge, the identification of logical arguments, the justification of the approach used and how the data arose, the analysis and response to the arguments of others, the identification and explanation of both correct and flawed arguments, and the recognition and use of counterexamples to refine assumptions or definitions to dispute or disprove an argument.
MODEL WITH MATHEMATICS
This concept advances student use of methods to model, represent, and solve real-world problems. It also aids in students ability to simplify a complicated problem by making assumptions and approximations, to interpret results in the context of the problem and revise the model if necessary, and to choose a model that is both appropriate and efficient to arrive at one or more desired solutions.
USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS STRATEGICALLY
This concept contributes to student ability to identify mathematical tools and recognize their strengths and weaknesses, select and use appropriate tools to best model/solve problems, use estimation to predict reasonable solutions and/or detect errors, identify and successfully use external mathematical resources to pose or solve problems, and use a variety of technologies to explore, to confirm and to deepen conceptual understanding.
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE
This concept provides the foundation for students to develop an understanding of the Earth, its history, composition, and formative processes, and an understanding of the solar system and the universe. Students study the regularities of the interrelated systems of the natural world. In doing so, they develop understandings of the basic laws, theories, and models that explain the world (NSES, 1995). By studying the Earth from both a historical and current time frame, students can make informed decisions about issues affecting the planet on which they live.
ATTEND TO PRECISION
This concept supports students in their quest to understand symbols and use them consistently within the context of a problem. It also assists students in calculating answers efficiently and accurately, label answers correctly, formulate precise explanations using both mathematical representations and words, as well as communicate using clear mathematical definitions, vocabulary, and symbols.
LOOK FOR & MAKE USE OF STRUCTURE
This concept facilitates looking for, indentifying, and accepting patterns or structures within relationships. It also advances the use of patterns or structures to makes sense of mathematics and connect prior knowledge to similar situations and extend to novel situations, analyze a complex problem by breaking it down into smaller parts, and reflect on the problem as a whole and shift perspective as needed.
LOOK FOR & EXPRESS REGULARITY IN REPEATED REASONING
This concept nurtures student adeptness in recognizing similarities and patterns in repeated trial with a process, generalizing the process to create a shortcut which may lead to developing rules or creating a formula, and evaluating the reasonableness of results throughout the mathematical process while attending to the details.