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this pdf is available from the national academies press at http www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13165 a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas isbn 978-0-309-21742-2 320 pages 8 1/4 x 10 paperback 2011 committee on conceptual framework for the new k-12 science education standards national research council visit the national academies press online and register for instant access to free pdf downloads of titles from the national academy of sciences national academy of engineering institute of medicine national research council 10 off print titles custom notification of new releases in your field of interest special offers and discounts distribution posting or copying of this pdf is strictly prohibited without written permission of the national academies press unless otherwise indicated all materials in this pdf are copyrighted by the national academy of sciences request reprint permission for this book copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas committee on a conceptual framework for new k-12 science education standards board on science education division of behavioral and social sciences and education advance copy not for public release before tuesday july 19 2011 1:00 p.m est prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas the national academies press 500 fifth street n.w washington dc 20001 notice the project that is the subject of this report was approved by the governing board of the national research council whose members are drawn from the councils of the national academy of sciences the national academy of engineering and the institute of medicine the members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance this study was supported by grant number d 09121 between the national academy of sciences and the carnegie corporation of new york any opinions findings conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the carnegie corporation of new york library of congress cataloging-in-publication data or international standard book number 0-309-0xxxx-x library of congress catalog card number 97-xxxxx additional copies of this report are available from national academies press 500 fifth street n.w lockbox 285 washington dc 20055 800 624-6242 or 202 334-3313 in the washington metropolitan area internet http www.nap.edu copyright 2011 by the national academy of sciences all rights reserved printed in the united states of america suggested citation national research council 2011 a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas committee on a conceptual framework for new k-12 science education standards board on science education division of behavioral and social sciences and education washington dc the national academies press prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas the national academy of sciences is a private nonprofit self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the congress in 1863 the academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters dr ralph j cicerone is president of the national academy of sciences the national academy of engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the national academy of sciences as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers it is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members sharing with the national academy of sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government the national academy of engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs encourages education and research and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers dr charles m vest is president of the national academy of engineering the institute of medicine was established in 1970 by the national academy of sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public the institute acts under the responsibility given to the national academy of sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and upon its own initiative to identify issues of medical care research and education dr harvey v fineberg is president of the institute of medicine the national research council was organized by the national academy of sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the academy s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the academy the council has become the principal operating agency of both the national academy of sciences and the national academy of engineering in providing services to the government the public and the scientific and engineering communities the council is administered jointly by both academies and the institute of medicine dr ralph j cicerone and dr charles m vest are chair and vice chair respectively of the national research council www.national-academies.org prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas committee on a conceptual framework for new k-12 science education standards helen r quinn chair slac national accelerator laboratory stanford university wyatt w anderson department of genetics university of georgia athens tanya atwater department of earth science university of california santa barbara philip bell learning sciences university of washington seattle thomas b corcoran teachers college columbia university rodolfo dirzo department of biology stanford university phillip a griffiths institute for advanced study princeton new jersey dudley r herschbach department of chemistry and chemical biology harvard university linda p.b katehi office of the chancellor university of california davis john c mather nasa goddard space flight center greenbelt maryland brett d moulding utah partnership for effective science teaching and learning north ogden jonathan osborne school of education stanford university james w pellegrino school of education and social policy university of illinois chicago stephen l pruitt office of the state superintendent of schools georgia department of education until june 2010 brian reiser school of education and social policy northwestern university rebecca r richards-kortum department of bioengineering rice university walter g secada school of education university of miami deborah c smith department of curriculum and instruction pennsylvania state university heidi a schweingruber study co-director thomas keller study co-director michael a feder senior program officer martin storksdieck board director kelly a duncan senior program assistant until october 2010 rebecca krone program associate steven marcus editorial consultant v prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas board on science education helen r quinn chair stanford linear accelerator center stanford university philip bell learning sciences university of washington seattle george boggs american association of community colleges retired washington dc william b bonvillian washington dc office massachusetts institute of technology joseph francisco department of chemistry purdue university adam gamoran center for education research university of wisconsin­madison jerry p gollub natural sciences and physics departments haverford college margaret a honey new york hall of science new york janet hustler partnership for student success in science ps3 synopsys inc mountain view california susan kieffer department of geology university of illinois urbana brett d moulding utah partnership for effective science teaching and learning ogden carlo parravano merck institute for science education rahway new jersey susan r singer department of biology carleton college william b wood department of cellular and developmental biology university of colorado boulder martin storksdieck director heidi a schweingruber deputy director michael a feder senior program officer margret hilton senior program officer thomas e keller senior program officer natalie nielsen senior program officer sherrie forrest associate program officer rebecca krone program associate anthony brown senior program assistant kelly duncan senior program assistant until october 2010 vi prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas contents executive summary part i a vision for k-12 science education 1 introduction 2 guiding assumptions and organization of the framework part ii dimensions of the framework 3 dimension 1 scientific and engineering practices 4 dimension 2 crosscutting concepts 5 dimension 3 disciplinary core ideas physical sciences 6 dimension 3 disciplinary core ideas life sciences 7 dimension 3 disciplinary core ideas earth and space sciences 8 dimension 3 disciplinary core ideas engineering and technology part iii realizing the vision 9 integrating the three dimensions 10 implementation 11 diversity and equity 12 guidance for standards developers 13 looking toward the future research to inform k-12 science education standards appendixes abcd committee response to public feedback references on teaching and learning biographical sketches of committee members design teams roster vii prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas foreword a framework for k-12 science education standards represents the first step in a process to create new standards in k-12 science education this project capitalizes on a major opportunity that exists at this moment a large number of states are adopting common standards in mathematics and english/language arts and thus are poised to consider adoption of common standards in k-12 science education the impetus for this project grew from the recognition that although the existing national documents on science content for k-12 developed in the early to mid 1990s were an important step in strengthening science education there is much room for improvement not only has science progressed but also the education community has learned important lessons from 10 years of implementing standards-based education and there is a new and growing body of research on learning and teaching in science that can now inform a revision of the standards and revitalize science education in this context the carnegie corporation together with the institute for advanced study established a commission that issued a report the opportunity equation calling for a common set of standards in science to be developed the carnegie corporation has taken a leadership role to ensure that the development of common science standards proceeds and is of the highest quality by funding a two-step process first the development of this framework by the national research council nrc and second the development of a next generation of science standards based on the framework by achieve inc we are grateful for the financial support of the carnegie corporation for this project and for their vision in establishing the partnership and two-step process for developing the new standards this framework builds on the strong foundation of previous studies that have sought to identify and describe the major ideas for k-12 science education these include science for all americans and benchmarks for science literacy 1993 developed by the american association for the advancement of science aaas and the national science education standards 1996 developed by the national research council the framework is also informed by more recent work of two of our partner organizations the american association for the advancement of science in project 2061 especially and the national science teachers association particularly the anchors project 2009 achieve inc our third partner is this endeavor will develop next-generation standards for science education based on the framework presented in this report with the aspiration that many states will choose to adopt them we look forward to working with these organizations in the dissemination and implementation of the vision of science and engineering education that the framework embodies the framework highlights the power of integrating understanding the ideas of science with engagement in the practices of science and is designed to build students proficiency and appreciation for science over multiple years of school of particular note is the prominent place given to the ideas and practices of engineering as presidents of the national academy of sciences and national academy of engineering we are pleased to convey this report to interested readers we believe that the education of the children of this nation is a vital national concern the understanding of and interest in science and engineering that its citizens bring to bear in their personal and civic decision making is critical to good decisions about the nation s future the viii prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas percentage of students who are motivated by their school and out-of-school experiences to pursue careers in these fields is currently too low for the nation s needs moreover an ever-larger number of jobs require skills in these areas along with those in language arts and mathematics we thank the committee and the many consultants and nrc staff members who contributed to this effort as well as the thousands who took the time to comment on the draft that was made public in july 2010 that input contributed substantially to the quality of this final report ralph j cicerone president national academy of sciences charles m vest president national academy of engineering ix prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas acknowledgments together with the rest of the committee i thank the many individuals and organizations who assisted us in our work without whom this study could not have been completed we begin by acknowledging the generous support of the carnegie corporation of new york and particularly andres henriquez for his attention to and patience with this project next we recognize the importance of the partnership we developed with achieve inc the american association for the advancement of science and the national science teachers association and we are pleased to be continuing this partnership each organization brought its unique perspective to our many partner meetings which led to a stronger report and better communication with the myriad communities with an interest in k-12 science education each of these partners has an important role to play as the implementation of ideas in the framework develops this report would not have been possible without the work of many individuals teams and organizations and we hope we acknowledge them all here the four design teams listed in appendix a were critical in the development of the framework and providing the committee with insightful and creative models for organizing the core ideas we are deeply indebted to them and especially to the four team leaders rodger bybee joseph krajcik cary snyder and michael wysession these team leaders worked closely with the committee until the final stages of the project tirelessly revising drafts of their work discussing the research debating possible approaches and consistently going above and beyond their initial commitments the work would have been impossible without them the committee also called on many individual experts in a variety of capacities some served as presenters others provided detailed reviews of the draft framework released in july still others worked closely with groups of committee members to refine portions of the report and a select few filled all three roles we acknowledge valerie akerson indiana university charles andy anderson michigan state university angela calabrese barton michigan state university anita bernhardt department of education maine nancy brickhouse university of delaware ravit golan duncan rutgers university daniel edelson national geographic society jacob foster massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education adam gamoran university of wisconsin-madison david hammer university of maryland college park david heil david heil associates leslie herrenkohl university of washington frank keil yale university rich lehrer vanderbilt university kathy metz university of california berkeley jacqueline miller education development center alberto rodriguez san diego state university aaron rogat columbia university jo ellen roseman american association for the advancement of science leona schauble vanderbilt university eugenie scott national center for science education jean slattery achieve inc susan singer carleton college carol smith university of massachusetts at boston maria varelas university of illinois at chicago beth warren terc iris weiss horizon research inc and marianne wiser clark university x prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas the committee also benefited from the extensive feedback on the draft released during the public comment period in summer 2010 we thank the large number of individuals who sent thoughtful comments as well as the many stakeholder groups and their leaders who were generous in recording and sending us discussion group feedback see appendix a the committee found this feedback invaluable in revising the report and we think it has greatly improved the quality of the final document we are also deeply grateful to the many individuals at the national research council nrc who assisted the committee the success of a large project such as the framework involves the efforts of countless staff members who work behind the scenes we acknowledge the support and commitment of the project co-directors heidi schweingruber whose dedication to this work was demonstrated time and again at every stage of the work and tom keller who likewise played many critical roles in the process we are grateful for the extensive thoughtful and cheerfully supportive work of additional staff of the board on science education who rose to the urgency of the task time and time again kelly duncan rebecca krone michael feder natalie nielsen sherrie forrest mengfei huang a mirzyan fellow with bose and martin storksdieck matthew von hendy provided valuable research assistance we also thank kirsten sampson-snyder who shepherded the report through the nrc review process christine mcshane who edited the draft report and yvonne wise for processing the report through final production we were also aided by the editorial skills of steve marcus the work of staff of the national academies press including steve mautner rachel marcus and virginia bryant and doug sprunger in the dbasse communications office we owe a special debt of thanks to sara frueh who worked closely with project staff on communications and press issues and attended many meetings of the four partners to discuss communication and dissemination strategy prior to the public comment period the draft underwent a condensed version of an nrc internal review we thank the following individuals for their review of this report richard a duschl college of education pennsylvania state university w.g ernst department of geological and environmental sciences stanford university kim a kastens lamont-doherty earth observatory columbia university and elizabeth k stage lawrence hall of science university of california berkeley lauress laurie l wise human resources research organization humrro monterey ca and jerry p gollub physics department haverford college oversaw the initial review of this report this report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen by their diverse perspective and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the national research council s report review committee the purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity evidence and responsiveness to the study charge the review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process we thank the following individuals for their review of this report cristina amon dean faculty of applied science and engineering alumni chair professor of bioengineering department of mechanical and industrial engineering university of toronto william b bridges carl f braun professor of engineering emeritus california institute of technology marye anne fox chancellor office of the chancellor university of california san diego kenji hakuta school of xi prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas education stanford university john m hayes scientist emeritus woods hole oceanographic institution john r jungck department of biology beloit college ron latanision corporate vice president exponent natick ma richard lehrer department of teaching and learning peabody college of vanderbilt university michael e martinez department of education university of california irvine jennifer o day principal research scientist education program american institutes for research sacramento ca carlo parravano executive director merck institute for science education rahway nj r bruce partridge department of astronomy haverford college roy d pea school of education stanford university jana rowland science education director office of standards and curriculum oklahoma state department of education philip rubin chief executive officer haskins laboratories new haven ct wilfried schmid mathematics department harvard university h eugene stanley university professor and professor of physics chemistry physiology and biomedical engineering department of physics boston university suzanne m wilson chair department of teacher education michigan state university william b wood distinguished professor emeritus department of biology university of colorado boulder yu xie otis dudley duncan distinguished university professor of sociology population studies center university of michigan clarice m yentsch adjunct research scientist oceanographic center nova southeastern university although the reviewers listed above have provided constructive comments and suggestions they are not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release lorraine mcdonnell and jerry gollub oversaw the review of this report appointed by the national research council they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution finally i would like add my personal thanks in particular to heidi schweingruber without whose wise advice and support i could not have done my part of the job and to my colleagues on the committee for their enthusiasm hard work and collaborative spirit in writing this report they attended six meetings of two or more days in length freely provided their comments engaged in spirited discussion read and commented on numerous drafts and worked at a furious pace helen r quinn chair xii prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas executive summary es-1 executive summary science engineering and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and they also hold the key to meeting many of humanity s most pressing current and future challenges yet too few u.s workers have strong backgrounds in these fields and many people lack even fundamental knowledge of them this national trend has created a widespread call for a new approach to k-12 science education in the united states the committee on a conceptual framework for new science education standards was charged with developing a framework that articulates a broad set of expectations for students in science the overarching goal of our framework for k-12 science education is to ensure that by the end of 12th grade all students have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on related issues are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives are able to continue to learn about science outside school and have the skills to enter careers of their choice including but not limited to careers in science engineering and technology currently k-12 science education in the united states fails to achieve these outcomes in part because it is not organized systematically across multiple years of school emphasizes discrete facts with a focus on breadth over depth and does not provide students with engaging opportunities to experience how science is actually done the framework is designed to directly address and overcome these weaknesses the framework is based on a rich and growing body of research on teaching and learning in science as well as on nearly two decades of efforts to define foundational knowledge and skills for k-12 science and engineering from this work the committee concludes that k-12 science and engineering education should focus on a limited number of disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts be designed so that students continually build on and revise their knowledge and abilities over multiple years and support the integration of such knowledge and abilities with the practices needed to engage in scientific inquiry and engineering design the committee recommends that science education in grades k-12 be built around three major dimensions see box es.1 for details of each dimension these dimensions are scientific and engineering practices crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science and engineering through their common application across fields and core ideas in four disciplinary areas physical sciences life sciences earth and space sciences and engineering technology and the applications of science to support students meaningful learning in science and engineering all three dimensions need to be integrated into standards curriculum instruction and assessment engineering and technology are featured alongside the natural sciences physical sciences life sciences and earth and space sciences for two critical reasons to reflect the importance of understanding the prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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a framework for k-12 science education practices crosscutting concepts and core ideas executive summary es-2 human-built world and to recognize the value of better integrating the teaching and learning of science engineering and technology the broad set of expectations for students articulated in the framework is intended to guide the development of new standards that in turn guide revisions to science-related curriculum instruction assessment and professional development for educators a coherent and consistent approach throughout grades k-12 is key to realizing the vision for science and engineering education embodied in the framework that students over multiple years of school actively engage in science and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of each fields disciplinary core ideas the framework represents the first step in a process that should inform state-level decisions and provide a research-grounded basis for improving science teaching and learning across the country it is intended to guide standards developers curriculum designers assessment developers state and district science administrators professionals responsible for science teacher education and science educators working in informal settings the report also identifies the challenges inherent in aligning the components of k-12 science education with this new vision for science and engineering education provides recommendations for standards development and lays out a research agenda that would generate the insights needed to update the framework and generate new standards in the future the committee emphasizes that greater improvements in k-12 science and engineering education will be made when all components of the system from standards and assessments to support for new and established teachers to providing sufficient time for learning science are aligned with the framework s vision prepublication copy uncorrected proofs copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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