NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Science
Skills
Advice and Guidance
for Practitioners
[NATIONAL 4]
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whether published by Education Scotland or
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Acknowledgement
© Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of
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Contents
Planning for learning and teaching skills in science
4
Introduction: Setting the scene in a Scottish context
5
Curriculum for Excellence
6
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
8
Developing skills in science: extracts from Principles and Practice
9
Exemplification of learning and teaching
Body mass index
Obesity and diabetes
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Planning for learning and teaching skills in science
This advice and guidance is intended for use by practitioners. It is non mandatory. It is anticipated that practitioners will be creative and innovative
in planning approaches to meeting the needs of learners. This advice and
guidance should be used in a reflective and selective manner.
The purpose of the advice and guidance is to illustrate an appropriate level of
challenge for skills-based work at National 4. In this case, this has been
exemplified through science in a health-related context. The advice and
guidance may be equally useful for practitioners working in other subject
specialisms.
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Introduction: Setting the scene in a Scottish context
The Government's skills strategy, Skills for Scotland: Accelerating the
Recovery and Increasing Sustainable Economic Growth , sets out a new,
flexible, responsive partnership approach to meeting Scotland ’s skills needs
at a crucial point in our economic recovery.
Skills play a central role in raising employment levels and productivity and
are fundamental to ensuring Scotland's businesses have the capability to
compete successfully both now and in the future. But, as recognised in the
Scottish Government's skills and economic strategies, the acquisition of skills
alone is not sufficient. In Skills Development Scotland we are tasked with
catalysing real and positive change in Scotland's skills performance by
linking skills supply and demand more effectively and helping peo ple and
organisations learn, develop and utilise these skills to greater effect.
Skills Development Scotland, Our Journey
Universities regard the skills strategy as a s ignificant initiative. The
development of the highest level skills most crucial for economic growth is
already one of their prime drivers.
David Caldwell, Universities Scotland
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Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence supports the development of relevant careers skills
in many ways:
 The driving force behind
Curriculum for Excellence is that it
is a curriculum for learning, life
and work, and it should fully equip
learners with the skills, knowledge
and confidence to thrive and
succeed in the increasingly
globalised world of the 21st
century.
 The development of skills within
learners is at the heart of
Curriculum for Excellence in
recognition of the fact that in a fast-changing world, skills will allow
learners to adapt to changing circumstances and are the key to succ ess.
These include the entire spectrum of skills from leadership to interpersonal
skills to career management skills. Building the Curriculum 4 gives further
information about the importance of skills within Curriculum for
Excellence and how they have been embedded within the experiences and
outcomes for all learners, from which the skills within the learning for
National 4 should progress. The Skills for Learning, Skills for Life and
Skills for Work Framework will also aid your planning to meet the needs
of learners.
 Interdisciplinary learning is a key aspect of Curriculum for Excellence . It
allows practitioners to develop rich learning experiences that build upon
the strengths and expertise within different disciplines. T opics such as
health and wellbeing can be used as complex themes for interdisciplinary
learning or taught within the science context to link with wider learning.
These also offer excellent vehicles for learners to develop higher-order
thinking skills and prepare learners for the life of work, where
interdisciplinary approaches to complex tasks are often the norm.
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 Curriculum for Excellence encourages approaches to learning that are
motivational, fun, relevant, challenging and, importantly, develop the
skills of learners. Such approaches to learning include co -operative, active,
collaborative and outdoor learning.
There are many ways in which this learning journey can develop, and you
will know best how to plan learning and teaching that meets the needs of your
learners. By planning opportunities for skills development in context you may
find that the learners’ interests, strengths, prior learning and locality, as well
as local, national and global events, lend themselves to progressing learning
in different ways from the suggestions within this advice and guidance. Ideas
for learning and teaching can be adapted to allow development and
application of skills for learning, life and work, or to incorporate ICT and
take account of a range of learners’ needs.
Glow provides an opportunity for learners to work together across
geographical areas.
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Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
This Framework provides descriptors for guidance at each level, including
SCQF level 4, the level at which National 4 is benchmarked.
The SCQF Level Descriptors have five characteristics which provide a
reference point for determining the level of a qualification, learni ng
programme, module or unit of learning or for the recognition of prior
learning. They are not intended to give precise or comprehensive statements
of required learning for individual qualifications.
Each level is described in terms of its characteristic ge neral outcomes under
five broad headings. These are:
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knowledge and understanding – mainly subject-based;
practice (applied knowledge and understanding);
generic cognitive skills - e.g. evaluation, critical analysis;
communication, numeracy and IT skills; and
autonomy, accountability and working with others.
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
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Developing skills in science: extracts from
Principles and Practice
In the sciences, effective learning and teaching depends upon the skilful use
of varied approaches, including:
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active learning and planned, purposeful play
development of problem-solving skills and analytical thinking skills
development of scientific practical investigation and inquiry
use of relevant contexts, familiar to young people’s experiences
appropriate and effective use of technology, real materials and living
things
 building on the principles of Assessment is for Learning
 collaborative learning and independent thinking
 emphasis on children explaining their understanding o f concepts, informed
discussion and communication.
Inquiry and investigative skills
Through experimenting and carrying out practical scientific investigations
and other research to solve problems and challenges, children and young
people:
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ask questions or hypothesise
plan and design procedures and experiments
select appropriate samples, equipment and other resources
carry out experiments
use practical analytical techniques
observe, collect, measure and record evidence, taking ac count of safety
and controlling risk and hazards
 present, analyse and interpret data to draw conclusions
 review and evaluate results to identify limitations and improvements
 present and report on findings.
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The main approaches to science inquiry are:
 observing and exploring – careful observation of how something behaves,
looking for changes over time and exploring ‘ what happens if...?’ and
‘how could I...?’ questions
 classifying – through identifying key characteristics
 fair testing – through identifying all possible variables and then changing
only one while controlling all others
 finding an association – linking two variables to determine relationships.
Scientific analytical thinking skills
Children and young people develop a range of analytical thinking skills in
order to make sense of scientific evidence and concepts. This involves them:
 being open to new ideas and linking and applying learning
 thinking creatively and critically
 developing skills of reasoning to provide explanations and evaluations
supported by evidence or justifications
 making predictions, generalisations and deductions
 drawing conclusions based on reliable scientific evidence.
How can I plan for progression in the skills of scientific
investigations, inquiry and analytical thinking?
Throughout the framework, investigation and cognitive skills are signalled
within the experiences and outcomes across all levels. The skills become
more complex as learners’ conceptual understanding develops within
increasingly complex science contexts.
Teachers can plan to focus on the development of specific skills through
investigations, inquiries or challenges, with occasional opportunities for more
detailed and comprehensive activities, recognising that any one investigation
does not always require children and young people to develop the full range
of skills.
A broad indication of expectations for the development of these skills at
second level and at third/fourth level may be helpful.
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Second level
Children take part in a range of scientific i nvestigations and inquiries which
develop their understanding of the underlying scientific concepts appropriate
for second level. They develop a growing awareness of themselves and the
world around them through observation, collecting specimens and carryin g
out experiments. They develop their ability to formulate questions or
predictions based on observations or information that can be answered
through experimentation, inquiry and research. As they answer these
questions, they show an increasing awareness o f the factors that could be
changed and can plan a ‘fair test’ that involves keeping all the factors the
same except one.
While conducting experiments, children are able to safely use simple tools,
equipment, apparatus and procedures. They make observati ons, collect
information and make measurements accurately using relevant devices and
standard units and ICT where appropriate. They can select, with assistance,
appropriate methods to record their findings.
Learners at this level use simple charts and di agrams to present, analyse and
interpret their findings, identifying simple relationships, making links to their
original questions or predictions and drawing conclusions consistent with
findings. They can present their findings in writing, orally or visua lly using a
variety of media.
Third and fourth level
Young people take part in a range of scientific investigations and inquiries
which develop their understanding of the underlying scientific concepts
appropriate for third and fourth levels. They will take a more quantitative and
formalised approach to investigations and inquiries. As learners plan and
design their investigations, they identify a number of key questions,
formulating hypotheses and predictions based on observation or their
knowledge. They control and vary an increased number of more complex
variables.
Learners become more evaluative and increasingly take the initiative in
decision making about samples, measurements, equipment and procedures to
use. They demonstrate increased precision in their use of terminology, units
and scales. They apply safety measures and take the necessary action to
control risk and hazards. They collect and analyse increasingly complex data
and information including using data loggers and software analysis tools .
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Young people establish links between their findings and the original question,
hypothesis or prediction. They establish relationships between variables and
use a relationship, equation or formulae to find a qualitative or quantitative
solution. They evaluate a range of aspects of their investigation or inquiry
including the relevance and reliability of the evidence.
Young people provide explanations of their findings based on evidence in
terms of cause and effect and by applying their understanding o f the
underlying scientific concepts. They begin to consider alternative
explanations and apply or extend conclusions to new situations or identify
further studies. They communicate effectively in a range of ways including
orally and through scientific report writing.
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Exemplification of learning and teaching
Body mass index
This idea for learning and teaching is adapted from work published by
Scottish Science Education Research Centre (SSERC, accessible using your
Glow login) with their kind permission. The purpose is to exemplify
numeracy skills at National 4.
People are often said to be obese if they have weight to height ratio or body
mass index (BMI) over 30.
Use data about the height and weight of a range of public figures, eg
celebrities, athletes, film stars and politicians, to explore body mass index
(BMI). Images can be found on the internet and either printed out in advance
or searched during the learning. Information on celebrity height and weight
can be found on the internet using a search engine. As well as developing
numeracy skills and introducing opportunities for exploring the use of ICT in
supporting numeracy, there are a number of aspects around health and
wellbeing which may arise from the learning.
Selection of appropriate public figures could allow opportunities for
discussion of:
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whether BMI is always an indication of health or otherwise
the BMI of athletes: it often indicates that they are ‘overweight’ but does
this mean unhealthy?
Female celebrities and models whose figur es are celebrated in the press:
often ‘underweight’ by this measure – are we being exposed to unhealthy
images which affect our own body image?
healthy BMI – it may mask other unhealthy lifestyle choices, eg drug
abuse.
Questions for learners
1.
Looking at images of public figures, which ones do you perceive to be
healthy? Which ones do you perceive to be unhealthy? What are you r
reasons for these choices? Make a note of your thoughts at this stage on
sticky notes or on a Glow discussion forum.
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2.
Looking at images of public figures, estimate their weight (or mass).
What units do you usually use when talking about body weight? What
units are normally used when considering cooking ingredients ? Is there
a simple rule you can remember for rough conversions be tween stones
and pounds (lb), and kilograms (kg) and grams (g)?
3.
Looking at others around you, estimate their height. This is difficult to
do from photographs. Again, consider the units you use for measuring
height. In the UK, we tend to use imperial units of length or height: feet
and inches (eg a person’s height might be 5 foot 6). However, for
measurements in medicine and science we use metric units: metres (eg a
person’s height might be 1.68 m). Try estimating the height of others
around you in metres, then measure them with an appropriate choice of
equipment to check your estimates.
Depending on learners’ confidence with numbers, it might be helpful to
identify a simple benchmark and determine its height in metres and in feet
and inches to establish a conversion for application when estimating heights.
Learners could use a variety of methods to calculation the BMI of public
figures, for example;
 use the standard formula given weight in kg and height in metres (metric
units)
 use the standard formula and conversion of units of weight, height or both
 use an Excel spreadsheet that has been set up as a template
 use an Excel spreadsheet that the learner sets up as a template
 use a web-based tool such as the BBC BMI Calculator or Diabetes.co.uk
tool.
Within a group of learners it may be appropriate to allow learners to select
their preferred approach and then use peer teaching or support to try using
another method that they find more challenging, eg incorporating ICT to
support their numerical skills.
Question for learners
1. The BBC BMI Calculator allows you to convert between imperial and
metric units Try some quick conversions in your head and check them
using this tool. See if this helps you spot an easy rule for conversion.
The BBC BMI Calculator contains information on BMI, impact on health and
action that can be taken. Learners could read sections and take responsibility
for summarising information to teach others in the group.
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Questions for learners
1.
Look at images of public figures and your notes of who m you perceived
to be healthy or unhealthy. Consider the data you have on the BMI of
each person. Does this change your viewpoint of who is healthy or
unhealthy? If so, explain this change.
2.
Is BMI the only measure of whether or not a person is healthy or
unhealthy? Does it work as a measure for every person? Are there other
measures that are used as indicators of health?
This idea for developing numeracy skills, with potential for incorporating use
of ICT to support numeracy, could be used in conjunction with other learning
around health, eg making health diet choices, knowledge of vitamins and
minerals, effects of deficiencies/disorders and investigating the nutritional
value of food, including practical work burning foodstuff.
The cre8ate maths resource Minimise or Supersize available from the
National STEM Centre e-library contains ideas to support numeracy skills (eg
calculating proportions and percentages, using formulae, organising and
processing information) in the context of health.
Glow Science videos and learning materials that would support this learning
and teaching include:
What is Fitness?
Obesity – What is it and how can you tackle it?
There are also opportunities to indicate to learners t he real-life relevance of
the ability to use numeracy connected with science in careers.
Question for learners
1. Who needs to know about BMI? Name as many careers as you can where
the ability to calculate and understand BMI might be useful.
Ideas for developing reflective discussion among learners can be found on the
Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition site: ‘The government should
take tougher action on unhealthy behaviour’ and ‘Government should use
economic incentives to encourage healthy behaviour’.
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There are clear opportunities for linking to health and wellbeing
qualifications, eg use of data gathered in PE or extension of understanding of
topics associated with health choices and behaviours.
Obesity and diabetes
This idea for learning and teaching is adapted from work published by
SSERC, with their kind permission.
This idea for developing numeracy skills, with potential for incorporating the
use of ICT to support numeracy, could be used in conjunction with other
learning around obesity and diabetes.
Questions for learners
1.
What are the risk factors for developing diabetes? Are any of these
factors that individuals can control?
2.
What are the implications for our society, and other societies, of an
increase in diabetes (eg cost of healthcare for the condition and its side
effects)?
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA has developed a
PowerPoint slide show (http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html) that
contains sequential maps of the country to illustrate obesity trends among US
adults.
Key words to highlight and build learners’ understanding to develop
numeracy may be trends, predictions, evidence, estimate. A way to connect to
learners’ understanding of trends may be to use the sometimes controversial
issue of ‘trending’ on Twitter.
Questions for learners
1.
Looking at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention maps for
1985 and 1986, what predictions can you make about likely trends in
obesity for subsequent years? What are these predictions based on?
2.
Notice the colour coding on the map and its meaning, given in the key.
Estimate the population of the USA and how many people are obese if,
for example, 10% of the population is obese. How does this compare to
the population of Scotland?
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3.
Progressing through the images, what do you notice about the trends in
obesity between 1985 and 2009? How does this compare with your
early predictions?
The final two slides within the slideshow have been provided by
SSERC.
4.
On the first of the two graph slides, notice what is being graphed and
what units are being used. Explain what the graph tells you about the
relationship between incidence of obesity and diabetes .
5.
On the first slide, predict what the trendline or best -fit line would look
like. This can be done either on the IWB or on a copy of the slide
printed for you.
6.
Now look at the final slide and compare it to your prediction. How does
it compare? Notice that the best-fit line does not go through the origin.
Suggest some reasons for this.
There is much to be gained for learners by extending this into discussion
around some of the issues. The obesity/diabetes link is topical and of great
importance to learners in terms of lifestyle choices.
The data provided could be examined to determine to what extent there can
be interpretation of it. This offers huge scope for investigative work for
learners to consider issues related to ethnicity, lifestyle and genetic factors.
The NHS Scotland Scottish Diabetes Survey 2010 gives an overview of
current diabetes statistics for Scotland. Depending on the focus of the
learning, this gives opportunities to compare with other regions of the UK
using data published by Diabetes UK. This gives the opportunity to again
explore interpretation of data – is Scotland’s bad press on lifestyle and diet
justified in terms of the prevalence of obesity and diabetes? This could lead
to examination of published data around other conditions to determine where
Scotland’s health is worse, or better, than other UK regions. It may also be
interesting to examine percentage obesity and obesity trends in other
countries, and consider trends in these countries , eg China.
The Wellcome Trust game in which players help the OBs race survive by
identifying factors that cause obesity and providing guidance on positive
choices is a useful resource.
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Does obesity cause diabetes?
Returning to considering the slides within the PowerPoint. The offset from
the origin in the second graph reflects approximately the background rate of
type 1 diabetes, as distinct from type 2 diabetes. The final reflective question
for learners is a particularly important one.
Question for learners
1. Does the fact that there is a trend of increasing rates of obesity and of
increasing rates of type 2 diabetes mean that one causes the other?
Understanding this, and the conclusions often drawn in the media as a result
of reviewing statistics, is an important part of scientific literacy.
Examples of articles that could be used to build on this theme are:
Tabloid Watch: Blogging about Bad Journalism
The Guardian: Immigrants cause job losses? Like i ce-cream brings sharks
Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science website contains lots of accessible information
on the nature of evidence and its use in the media.
The context of health offers rich opportunities for developing numeracy skills
and applying these in relevant contexts.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry website has an
activity in which learners plan balanced diets for characters based on
numerical values for healthy levels of required nutrients.
Other ideas include understanding the percentage ABV of alcohol in relation
to health and healthy alcohol intake.
Other ideas could include an exploration of alcohol and its effect on health.
Consideration could be given to both units and the percentage ABV in
different types of alcoholic drinks.
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