| (a) General requirements. This course is recommended
for students in Grades 11 and 12. Prerequisite: Biology, Chemistry,
Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC), or Physics. Students must
meet the 40% laboratory and fieldwork requirement. This course satisfies
a high school science graduation requirement. Students shall be awarded
one credit for successful completion of this course. Students may
take this course with different course content for a maximum of three
credits.
(b) Introduction.
(1) Career and technical education instruction provides
content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical
knowledge and skills for students to further their education and succeed
in current or emerging professions.
(2) The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
(STEM) Career Cluster focuses on planning, managing, and providing
scientific research and professional and technical services, including
laboratory and testing services, and research and development services.
(3) Scientific Research and Design is a broad-based
course designed to allow districts and schools considerable flexibility
to develop local curriculum to supplement any program of study or
coherent sequence. The course has the components of any rigorous scientific
or engineering program of study from the problem identification, investigation
design, data collection, data analysis, formulation, and presentation
of the conclusions. All of these components are integrated with the
career and technical education emphasis of helping students gain entry-level
employment in high-skill, high-wage jobs and/or continue their education.
(4) Science, as defined by the National Academy of
Sciences, is the "use of evidence to construct testable explanations
and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated
through this process." This vast body of changing and increasing knowledge
is described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models. Students
should know that some questions are outside the realm of science because
they deal with phenomena that are not scientifically testable.
(5) Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate
investigation of the natural world. Scientific methods of investigation
are experimental, descriptive, or comparative. The method chosen should
be appropriate to the question being asked.
(6) Scientific decision making is a way of answering
questions about the natural world. Students should be able to distinguish
between scientific decision-making methods (scientific methods) and
ethical and social decisions that involve science (the application
of scientific information).
(7) A system is a collection of cycles, structures,
and processes that interact. All systems have basic properties that
can be described in space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy
occur in systems as patterns and can be observed, measured, and modeled.
These patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically
tested. Students should analyze a system in terms of its components
and how these components relate to each other, to the whole, and to
the external environment.
(8) Students are encouraged to participate in extended
learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations
and other leadership or extracurricular organizations.
(9) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
(1) The student demonstrates professional standards/employability
skills as required by business and industry. The student is expected
to:
(A) demonstrate knowledge of how to dress appropriately,
speak politely, and conduct oneself in a manner appropriate for the
profession;
(B) show the ability to cooperate, contribute, and
collaborate as a member of a group in an effort to achieve a positive
collective outcome;
(C) present written and oral communication in a clear,
concise, and effective manner;
(D) demonstrate time-management skills in prioritizing
tasks, following schedules, and performing goal-relevant activities
in a way that produces efficient results; and
(E) demonstrate punctuality, dependability, reliability,
and responsibility in performing assigned tasks as directed.
(2) The student, for at least 40% of instructional
time, conducts laboratory and field investigations using safe, environmentally
appropriate, and ethical practices. The student is expected to:
(A) demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and
field investigations; and
(B) demonstrate an understanding of the use and conservation
of resources and the proper disposal or recycling of materials.
(3) The student uses scientific methods and equipment
during laboratory and field investigations. The student is expected
to:
(A) know the definition of science and understand that
it has limitations, as specified in subsection (b)(4) of this section;
(B) know that scientific hypotheses are tentative and
testable statements that must be capable of being supported or not
supported by observational evidence. Hypotheses of durable explanatory
power which have been tested over a wide variety of conditions are
incorporated into theories;
(C) know that scientific theories are based on natural
and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple
independent researchers. Unlike hypotheses, scientific theories are
well-established and highly reliable explanations, but may be subject
to change as new areas of science and new technologies are developed;
(D) distinguish between scientific hypotheses and scientific
theories;
(E) plan and implement descriptive, comparative, and
experimental investigative procedures, including making observations,
asking well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, identifying
variables, selecting appropriate equipment and technology, and evaluating
numerical answers for reasonableness;
(F) collect and organize qualitative and quantitative
data and make measurements with accuracy and precision using tools
such as calculators, spreadsheet software, data-collecting probes,
computers, standard laboratory glassware, microscopes, various prepared
slides, stereoscopes, metric rulers, electronic balances, gel electrophoresis
apparatuses, micropipettors, hand lenses, Celsius thermometers, hot
plates, lab notebooks or journals, timing devices, cameras, and meter
sticks;
(G) analyze, evaluate, make inferences, and predict
trends from data;
(H) identify and quantify causes and effects of uncertainties
in measured data;
(I) organize and evaluate data and make inferences
from data, including the use of tables, charts, and graphs; and
(J) communicate valid conclusions supported by the
data through methods such as lab reports, labeled drawings, graphic
organizers, journals, summaries, oral reports, and technology-based
reports.
(4) The student uses critical thinking, scientific
reasoning, and problem solving to make informed decisions within and
outside the classroom. The student is expected to:
(A) in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and
critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical
reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining
all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations,
so as to encourage critical thinking;
(B) communicate and apply scientific information extracted
from various sources such as current events, news reports, published
journal articles, and marketing materials;
(C) draw inferences based on data related to promotional
materials for products and services;
(D) explain the impacts of the scientific contributions
of a variety of historical and contemporary scientists on scientific
thought and society;
(E) evaluate models according to their limitations
in representing biological objects or events;
(F) research and describe the connections between science
and future careers; and
(G) express and interpret relationships symbolically
to make predictions and solve problems mathematically, including problems
requiring proportional reasoning and graphical vector addition.
(5) The student formulates hypotheses to guide experimentation
and data collection. The student is expected to:
(A) perform background research with respect to an
investigative problem; and
(B) examine hypotheses generated to guide a research
process by evaluating the merits and feasibility of the hypotheses.
(6) The student analyzes published research. The student
is expected to:
(A) identify the scientific methodology used by a researcher;
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