Foundations of
Science
Published: September, 2011
Contents
Contents................................................................................................................................................... 2
ST. THOMAS SCHOOL MISSION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES .................................................... 3
THE ST. THOMAS SCHOOL JOURNEY ............................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 4
VISION ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
PHILOSOPHY ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Science Foundational Approach .......................................................................................................... 5
Connecting Science to STS Guiding Principles .................................................................................. 6
A Shared Vision.................................................................................................................................... 11
Students as Active Learners ............................................................................................................... 12
Teachers as Leaders ............................................................................................................................. 12
Parents as Partners ............................................................................................................................... 12
Core Science Learning Skills............................................................................................................... 13
Best Practices In Science Education: What to Look For ................................................................. 17
Measuring Results in Science ............................................................................................................. 16
APPENDIX A: The Big Ideas of Science ............................................................................................... 19
APPENDIX B: Trends in Science Educaton – The Research .............................................................. 21
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 25
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ST. THOMAS SCHOOL MISSION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The mission of St. Thomas School is to develop responsible citizens of a global society. In partnership
with parents, we inspire and motivate intellectually curious students. Our small, nurturing
environment supports the acquisition of a broad academic foundation with an emphasis on critical
thinking, leadership skills, and the development of strong character and spiritual awareness.
Curriculum with Coherence • Commitment to Character • Community of Learners • Climate for Learning
THE ST. THOMAS SCHOOL JOURNEY
At STS, students embark on an educational journey from the moment they enter school.
At the heart of the program are our Guiding Principles. We believe that a child’s
educational journey must be balanced betweeen the academic and affective domains.
Within the academic domain, core knowledge,
skills and understandings are developed
across seven primary disciplines.
Within the affective domain our
focus is on putting nine core
virtues into action.
We believe that certain skills
transcend specific disciplines and
grade levels. Therefore, five core
learning skills are integrated
throughout the curriculum:
communication, technology,
thinking, research, and selfmanagement. Academically, students are
expected not only to acquire knowledge and
skills, but to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate what they learn. In support of
growth of character and spirit, students engage in experiences that call upon them to
explore, reflect, choose, act, and lead.
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INTRODUCTION
St. Thomas School is proud of its rich history and tradition. As one of the oldest
independent schools on the Eastside, STS is unique in its approach to offering a
comprehensive preschool through middle school educational program and provides an
important service to the community. STS provides a challenging academic program
within a caring environment that emphasizes the development of character and
spiritual awareness.
VISION
A Vision of Science in the 21st Century
At St. Thomas School, our students confidently view themselves as scientists within
their immediate school community and the extended community of the world, actively
engaging in real and important investigations that promote curiosity, collaboration,
innovation, creativity, critical thinking skills, and self-reflection. It is the goal of the STS
science program to make science accessible, exciting, and challenging for all students
through the implementation of inquiry-based, hands-on science.
PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy of the Teaching of Science
Science is an active process that involves thinking in systems, asking and answering
questions through investigations, and applying science and technology to solve realworld problems. We feel that as all students bring unique and individual skills and
knowledge to the classroom, they deserve to be given opportunities to shine in their
own special way, so that each student is challenged and guided to success. At St.
Thomas School, students on all levels participate in hands-on, inquiry-based projects
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that research has shown increase cognitive achievement in scientific literacy and
cultivate a lasting positive attitude for science.
At St. Thomas School, the intentional curricular framework and scaffolding, rigorous
science standards, proven teaching strategies, and guided student experiences are all
carefully and deliberately selected while the science learning experiences themselves
are excitingly fresh, cutting-edge, important, and full of wonder and surprise for our
students. We feel it is vital in this ever-changing and increasingly technological world
to keep current with successful and proven trends in science education in order to offer
our student population an unparalleled education in science. The following sections
highlight the path we’ve recently traveled to ensure that every student’s STS science
experience is not only challenging and important, but also unique, inspiring, and
designed to instill a lifelong love for discovery and science learning.
Science Foundational Approach
The first step of the process was to closely evaluate our own science program, through
the eyes of educators, parents, and the student body in order to preserve core
experiences unique to our program. We then interviewed science educators in area
public and private schools and conducted an international study of best practices in the
field of science education and used the research findings to inform the further
development of our own science program. After careful consideration, we selected the
framework of Washington State’s recently-revised and updated science standards as a
model to create our own science standards, which Pre-Primary through 8th grade
teachers will use to guide the delivery of core science content and skills on each level.
This approach promotes a natural flow of topics and experiences that are grade-level
appropriate, team-planned, and scaffold in a way that allows students to build on
knowledge and skills in a challenging, deliberate way, including hands-on application
necessary for proficient scientific literacy in the 21st century.
St. Thomas School PrePrimary-8 Science Standards are organized into “Big Ideas of
Science”: eight in the domains of Life, Physical, and Earth and Space Science, three in
the area of Environment and Sustainability that will be embedded within each domain,
and three that cut across, unite, and are likewise embedded within each of the science
domains: Systems, Inquiry, and Application.
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As explained in Washington State’s most recent standards revision, the strategy of
using “Big Ideas” to organize science standards arose in response to recent research
showing that U.S. students lagged behind students in many other countries, at least in
part because school curricula typically included far too many topics. According to the
results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), “Our
curricula, textbooks, and teaching all are ‘a mile wide and an inch deep.” A solution to this
problem that has gained support from science education researchers in recent years is to
organize science standards by a small number of big ideas, which are essential for all
people in modern society to understand. Organizing PrePrimary-8th grade concepts
and abilities by Big Ideas offers a way to decide what is and is not important for
students to study, and provides a coherent vision of what students should know and be
able to do that builds throughout a coherent PrePrimary-8th grade science program.
See Appendix A for a summary of the “Big Ideas” used to organize the new St. Thomas
School’s Science Standards. While the table does not capture all of the topics, concepts,
and abilities that students are expected to acquire during any particular year, it does
indicate in a broad sense the essence of each big idea. These crosscutting concepts and
abilities increase in complexity, depth, and range as students mature from one grade
level to the next. To understand how the learning in each grade level contributes to or
scaffolds the development of each big idea as children advance through the grade
levels, we invite you to refer to the St. Thomas School’s Science Standards. There you
will find performance-based student expected outcomes for core content knowledge,
skills, and attitudes.
Connecting Science to STS Guiding Principles
At St. Thomas School, we strive to provide a learning environment that nurtures
students’ curiosity about the natural world and celebrates their accomplishments. When
investigating and experimenting in science, it is not uncommon for students to become
apprehensive about “trying” a new method or procedure for fear of failure. At St.
Thomas School, teachers foster creativity, problem-solving, and thoughtful
consideration of peers’ ideas in their classrooms, and students consider an experiment
that may not have gone as planned not as a failure, but as a new challenge to overcome
or problem to solve. As Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have just found
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10,000 ways that will not work!” We live in a world full of unexpected outcomes and
strive to equip our students with the knowledge and tools necessary to be successful
scientists. Our day-to-day decisions, policies, and programs are based on a core set of
guiding beliefs that provide a framework designed to help us nurture our budding
scientists each step of the way.
Climate for Learning
As D. Everett wrote in The Columbian Orator in 1797, “Tall oaks from little acorns grow.”
The Early Learning Center at St. Thomas School, which is comprised of 2-Day and 3Day Preschool, Pre-Primary, and Primary classrooms, skillfully provides just the right
environment to support the growth of our youngest scientists. In addition to displaying
a variety of interesting materials for students to explore both in the classrooms and in
the shared plaza, Early Learning Center teachers create a learning environment that
supports inquiry through giving children time to investigate and process their ideas
and provocations that allow them to explore and discover scientific phenomena in more
focused ways. They encourage curiosity, risk taking, playfulness, using evidence, and
care for our environment. Convergent and divergent questioning strategies are utilized
to elicit scaffolding and more sophisticated responses which indicate higher-level
thinking. Teachers acknowledge and praise children’s scientific discoveries and offer
encouragement which fosters positive attitudes toward science that continue long after
their formative years. Below is a visual representation of how Early Learning Center
teachers at St. Thomas School guide young children’s inquiry in science:
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Adapted for use by STS from: Hubert Dyasi, CCNY; Karen Worth, Education
Development Center, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 by Education Development Center, inc. /all rights reserved.
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When students transition from the Early Learning Center to the Elementary Center,
they enter a world where a hands-on teaching approach allows children to explore
scientific phenomena, develop an understanding of important scientific concepts in
individual and cooperative group settings, and create a variety of artistic, written, and
even musical projects that illustrate scientific concepts and skills learned. The integrated
curriculum encourages discovery, multi-sensory exploration, and student-to-student
interaction. Beginning in first grade, students have regular opportunities to experience
science in the well-equipped Science Lab where the students ARE scientists – asking
questions, developing hypotheses, and designing/carrying out their own experiments.
A dedicated science specialist supports classroom teachers and students with their
explorations to provide more assistance for more challenging lab experiences usually
reserved for older children. Having a well-equipped, dedicated science lab also offers
an unprecedented opportunity for the more involved exploration of projects and ideas
in addition to providing opportunities for more sophisticated types of experimentation.
As budding scientists, our Elementary Center students are encouraged to develop their
independence. They begin to hone their researching skills, set up experiments, decide
how and which data to collect, how to interpret data and present their findings.
Unexpected outcomes are usual happenstances and elicit more questions students have
opportunities to test. In this way, Elementary Center teachers abandon examining
arbitrary questions and “cookbook science” lessons with expected outcomes in
exchange for real, inquiry-based science that nurtures that spark of wonder children
naturally have for science. Students’ unique scientific works reveal this spark and are
often showcased on the walls of the Elementary Center plaza as evidence of their
conceptual understanding.
In the Middle School, students have their first taste of real life autonomy, as they are
expected to transition daily to and from science class, which takes place in the speciallydesigned Science Lab. Science is taught using a hands-on, project-based, open-inquiry
approach which rewards students’ individuality, innovation, and out-of-the-box
thinking. In a recent survey of top executives from Fortune 500 companies throughout
the United States, creativity was ranked significantly higher than any other skill or
attribute for success in today’s business world; even higher than intelligence. These
increasingly technological and demanding times require leaders who can respond
quickly and imaginatively to change or to solve a problem. Since the need for people to
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contribute creative ideas and original solutions has never been greater, we respond at
St. ThomasSchool by designing both individual and collaborative experiences that allow
students to learn scientific concepts and acquire important skills through exciting units
that take them from the lab into the natural environment as keen observers of their
world. Special field trips are arranged which all allow our students to explore
foundational concepts in greater depth while experiencing field research moments in
conjunction with team-building skills. In the Middle School, there is an important focus
on understanding and applying the basic and integrated science process skills and the
scientific method, which can take on many forms depending on what is being
researched or investigated. Students’ mastery of these skills are evident throughout the
year but none more so than during the Science Fair, when students become both
scientists and teachers in an exciting quest to ask questions and find out answers (which
lead to more questions) about the natural world.
Our 5th Graders also spend one week at Islandwood, a special “School in the
Woods.” This is a coming together of the entire 5th Grade class as it embarks upon the
Middle School part of the St. Thomas journey. Islandwood is not a traditional school,
but one in which the Smart Board is replaced with a palette of soft dirt and a stick for
sketching ideas between tall red cedar trees. It’s a living, breathing classroom, in true
Socratic style, where children and adults alike can inquire about the wonders of nature
and share their discoveries with one another. At Islandwood, students not only learn
about the interconnected nature of this fragile and unique ecosystem; they become
environmental and community stewards and are challenged to ponder their own
impact and place in the world.
Administration, teachers, parents, and students all work closely together in our tightlyknit community to embrace challenges, celebrate successes, and learn together. Science
is a passion in our community and we are dedicated to providing a successful climate
for our small acorns and mighty oaks alike.
Commitment to Character
Character-building has been an integral part of the St. Thomas teaching and learning
experience since St. Thomas opened its doors in 1951. The science program supports
character education through service learning, which cultivates students’ sense of
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personal and civic responsibility and an understanding of how their choices and ways
of thinking affect other living creatures and the environment. From the Early Learning
Center to the Middle School, students understand and consider diverse perspectives
and beliefs about the natural world and the scientific laws and theories that attempt to
explain it. We value and celebrate tradition and have carefully-woven the following
core virtues into the science program: personal and civic responsibility and
accountability, respect, courage, integrity, tolerance, compassion, perseverance, and
generosity. We strive to create a school climate and align our science curriculum in a
way that encourages students to practice these core virtues with the goal of becoming
thoughtful leaders in the field of science.
Community of Learners
There is perhaps no field whose progress relies more heavily on teaching, learning, and
sharing information and ideas in a community as in the field of science. As
technological changes have brought the community of the world to our schools and into
our homes via the internet, the way scientists collaborate has undergone vast changes as
well. For example, St. Thomas School’s weather station is used by regional and federal
agencies to track weather and in turn our own students use the technology to study
weather and climate patterns in real time in areas around the world that, not many
years ago, would have been impossible. Students also communicate with scientists
through live web podcasts and online seminars which highlight both men’s and
women’s contributions to the field of science. We are dedicated at STS to engaging both
boys and girls deeply in the science program, with both genders viewing themselves as
scientists and actively considering areas of science as a vocational choice. The St.
Thomas Middle School Careers Program invites scientists from the community to share
their work. It is astounding the changes that are happening every day and the myriad
of possibilities for working together that the modern era in science presents. Although
science and technology continues to change rapidly, St. Thomas School holds fast and
true to four facets that guide how we communicate as a community.
A Shared Vision
Teachers, administration, staff, parents, and students are all in the process of acquiring
new knowledge and skills every day. We work hard to nurture a learning environment
in which all members of the school feel secure in taking risks, asking questions, and
solving problems in creative ways in science.
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Students as Active Learners
Teachers balance a traditional approach to scientific skill and knowledge acquisition
with an inquiry-based model that recognizes the importance of students constructing
knowledge through “hands-on” activities.
Teachers as Leaders
Our dedicated team of educators strives to implement an enriching science curriculum
that embraces core academics, hones scientific process skills, promotes civic
responsibility, and offers exposure to career applications in the field of science. St.
Thomas School is dedicated to providing planning time, resources, and ongoing
professional development opportunities necessary for teachers to be successful.
Parents as Partners
Parent involvement in school life is an honored tradition at St Thomas School. We know
that a healthy, respectful partnership between home and school is a critical element of a
solid education. The science program’s design encourages parent involvement. It is not
uncommon to see parents gathered in one of our plaza areas questioning students about
their work or listening to presentations highlighting student achievements. We have an
unwavering commitment to nurturing a highly professional environment in which all
members of the scientific community are bonded through mutual respect,
responsibility, and collaboration.
Science Curriculum with Coherence
Enduring Science Understandings
All children are expected to become proficient and eloquent in the written and spoken
word of science. Students are expected to establish a solid understanding of scientific
core knowledge and develop core learning skills often within a framework of
interdisciplinary themes, which help students see scientific connections across subjects
and life experiences beyond classroom walls. It also allows them to see themselves as
successful life-long learners and leaders. Fundamental understandings of science
promoted at St. Thomas include:

Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing
the answer with what scientists already know about the world.

Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they
are trying to answer.
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
Instruments, such as magnifying lenses, thermometers, microscopes, and rulers
provide more information than scientists can collect using only their senses.

Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they
already know about the world (scientific knowledge).

Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the
investigations in ways that enable other to repeat the investigations.

Scientists review and ask questions about the result of other scientists’ work.

Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations.

Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations.

Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.

Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to
analyze and quantify results of investigations.

Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments,
and use scientific principles, models, and theories.
Core Science Learning Skills
Research in the field of science education indicates that, in addition to a solid
foundation of essential knowledge within the realm of science, students must develop
core learning skills in order to be well-rounded and successful scientists. Similar to the
structure of Bloom’s Taxonomy and The Learning Cycle, teachers at St. Thomas School
reinforce science process skills through carefully-designed, hands-on experiences. In
the Early Learning Center, students focus on honing their basic science process skills
and as they transition through the Elementary Center to the Middle School, those basic
skills are mastered and are expanded to include higher-level skills.
We embrace Richard Rezba’s philosophy in Learning and Assessing Science Process Skills.
“The basic science process skills are what people do when they do science. Children
who use these skills are active learners. They use their senses to observe objects and
phenomena and they look for patterns in those observations. They classify to form new
concepts by searching for similarities and differences. Orally and in writing, they
communicate what they know and are able to do. To quantify descriptions of objects and
events, they measure. They infer explanations and willingly change their inferences as
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new information becomes available. And they predict possible outcomes before they are
actually observed.” After students at St. Thomas School have mastered the basic
science process skills, they experiment more formally through incorporating the
integrated science process skills. As illustrated by Rezba, “The integrated science
process skills include identifying and defining variables, constructing hypotheses,
analyzing investigations, collecting and graphing data, designing investigations, and
experimenting. The basic science process skills are not separate and distinct from the
integrated science process skills.” In essence, the former serves as a foundation for the
complex skills of the latter.
Below is a visual representation of how components of the basic science process skills
(in bold) are intertwined with the integrated science process skills.
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Rezba, Richard J., Constance Sprague, Ronald L. Fiel, and H. James Funk. "1." Learning and Assessing Science Process
Skills. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub., 1995. 1. Print.
At St. Thomas School, students are also given the intellectual freedom to use and adapt
the scientific method to meet the needs of their own investigations. There is no one
formula for the scientific method just as there are no two experiments that require the
exact same set of procedures. Scientific methodology is used as a guide to help students
organize and present their scientific information in a coherent way.
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STS BEST PRACTICES
Best Practices in Science Education: What to Look For
Concrete physical experiences contribute to intellectual development as children
learn to reason and make logical decisions. Under the supervision of confident, wellprepared teachers, students of hands-on science attain a sound comprehension of
science concepts and processes and develop positive attitudes toward science and
science learning. St. Thomas School teachers believe in the following best practices
in science education, which are woven into the fabric of the science curriculum.
Adapting the Curriculum

Adapt curricula to meet the interests, levels of understanding, and
experiences of their students.

Present scientific content in the context of inquiry, technology, personal and
social perspectives, history, and nature of science.

Integrate science with other subject areas to reinforce that science permeates
all areas.

Carry out authentic assessment of students’ learning in science, promoting
the objectives of the science curriculum.

Participate in professional development opportunities to ensure that teachers
are confident experts in the areas of science they teach.
Promoting Inquiry

Build on students’ curiosity about the natural forces and phenomena of the
world to stimulate scientific inquiry.

Engage their students in systematic inquiry in a variety of ways, which
includes trial and error, documenting, predicting, product testing,
experimenting, reflecting, generating models, participating in simulations,
and inventing.
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
Provide opportunities for students to investigate and analyze science
questions over extended periods of time.
Building Understanding

Encourage students to engage in scientific investigations that build a deep
understanding and knowledge of science concepts and processes; immersing
students in doing science through systematic inquiry.

Build on students’ prior knowledge and directly confront misconceptions.

Enhance students’ science learning by providing them with opportunities for
collaborative group work, scientific discussion, and debate.

Ensure that students use evidence and strategies for developing or revising
an explanation when drawing conclusions.

Encourage students to become increasingly self-directed in their learning.

Respond to individual students’ interests, strengths, experiences, and needs.
Measuring Results in Science
We develop science curriculum through a backward design model in which we identify
core science content and skills, determine acceptable evidence, and plan learning
experiences, instruction, and assessments thoughtfully. Through the process of
curriculum renewal, we ensure that our science curriculum is continuously monitored
and updated, aligned with national standards, and capitalize on experiences unique to
the Pacific Northwest. Learning experiences are connected from year-to-year, gradually
building a solid academic foundation and a positive, confident approach to learning,
and are assessed using varied and ongoing assessments to accommodate the unique
learning styles of each of our students. When students graduate from St. Thomas
School, they exit as confident, prepared, and conscientious scientists.
Role of Assessment in Science
“One of the guiding principles behind assessment is that the more diverse the strategies
used, the more the teacher can learn about each student.” – Science For All Children
(1997)
St. Thomas School takes a balanced approach to the role of assessment in science,
incorporating valuable aspects of successful, proven models. We feel that while formal
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assessments are necessary to monitor student growth and to inform students and
parents of their achievements, offering a variety of ongoing assessments in conjunction
with self and peer evaluations during discovery and experimentation provide detailed,
immediate feedback which research has shown increases students’ self-perception,
motivation, and overall progress in science. At St. Thomas School, assessment in
science:

Is aligned with standards, curriculum, and teaching

Measures well-structured knowledge, scientific reasoning, and conceptual
change

Goes beyond paper and pencil toward doing

Measures processes of science, experiments, and higher-level thinking skills

Is embedded both throughout lessons (formative) and at the end (summative)

Includes the use of project rubrics which provide clear, reachable goals for
students

Includes students in the assessment process through self-assessments and
reflective writing
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APPENDIX A: The Big Ideas of Science
Big Idea 1
Crosscutting Big
Ideas of Science
The Big Ideas of
Physical Science
The Big Ideas of
Earth and Space
Science
The Big Ideas of
Life Science
Big Idea 2
Big Idea 3
Systems is a way of
Inquiry is a process of
Application is about the
thinking that makes it
possible to analyze and
understand complex
phenomena.
asking and answering
questions about the
natural world that forms
the bedrock of science.
interaction between
science and technology,
and how both can help
solve real-world
problems.
Force and Motion
Matter: Properties
and Change concerns
Energy: Transfer,
Transformation and
Conservation concerns
concerns the forces and
motions that occur in our
physical universe. At the
highest level, students apply
Newton’s Laws of Motion
and Gravity to explain
phenomena such as the fall
of a leaf and the motions of
planet Earth in space.
History of Earth in
Space is the longest and
most comprehensive story
that can be told, beginning
with the birth of the universe
and our home solar system,
to the dynamic Earth-SunMoon system and geologic
processes that set the stage
for the wide diversity of life.
By observing fossil
evidence and processes
that take place today, and
projecting those essential
clues and processes and
back in time, scientists build
an understanding of the
evolution of our planet.
Structure & Function
of Living Systems
includes the way living
things are organized and
the fundamental nature of
matter, including the atomicmolecular theory that
explains macroscopic
properties of materials and
makes it possible to predict
the outcomes of chemical
and nuclear reactions.
energy as it changes forms
and moves from one place
to another. Energy is never
created or destroyed. These
concepts are useful in
explaining phenomena in all
domains.
Earth Systems,
Structures, and
Processes includes the
big picture of Earth as an
interacting and dynamic
system, including weather
and climate, the oceans,
and the long-term
movement of crustal plates
that build up mountains and
cause earthquakes,
tsunami, and volcanoes.
Ecosystems are defined
Biological Evolution
as all of the plant and
animal populations and
nonliving resources in a
is the essential framework
for understanding how
organisms change over
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The Big Ideas of
Environment and
Sustainability
Standards(embedded)
carry on life processes, from
the components of a single
cell to complex multi-cellular
organisms such as humans.
given area. The
relationships between
organisms within an
ecosystem make it possible
to predict the consequences
of change and provide
insights into the sustainable
use of natural resources.
time, from the first singlecelled bacteria on the young
Earth to the amazing
diversity of species that
populate our planet today.
Evidence and reasoning are
essential to recognize the
patterns and scale of past
changes.
Ecological, Social,
and Economic
Systems
Natural and Built
Environments
Sustainability and
Civic Responsibility
Students engage in inquiry
and systems thinking and
use information gained
through learning
experiences in, about, and
for the environment to
understand the structure,
components, and processes
of natural and human-built
environments.
Students develop and apply
the knowledge, perspective,
vision, skills, and habits of
mind necessary to make
personal and collective
decisions and take actions
that promote sustainability.
Students develop
knowledge of the
interconnections and
interdependency of
ecological, social, and
economic systems. They
demonstrate understanding
of how the health of these
systems determines the
sustainability of natural and
human communities at
local, regional, national, and
global levels.
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APPENDIX B: Trends in Science Education – The Research
Trends in Science Education/What Research Says
Science education is never stagnant. It is always in motion, sometimes swirling
more rapidly as in the years following Sputnik, sometimes moving more slowly.
Identifying trends has been helpful in updating the St. Thomas science program.
Knowledge of the trends provided increased opportunities for better decisionmaking in regard to science goals, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and
resources. The following are summaries several prominent trends in science
education.
Standards in Science
The adoption and utilization of standards is undoubtedly the most prominent trend in
science education today. Standards are statements that identify what students should
know and be able to do in science. The USA National Academy of Science, National
Research Council, published the National Science Education Standards (NSES) in 1996.
Those standards have become the currency for K-12 science education in the United
States. All 50 states have science standards, almost all based upon the NSES. To
challenge our students and prepare them for science in the 21st century, it was necessary
to create our own science standards. In writing the St. Thomas Science Standards, not
only the original 1996 NSES Standards were considered and adapted, but also the AERO
Standards, MCCREL Science Benchmarks, AAAS Science Standards, and WA Science
Standards.
Inquiry-based Science
Another trend in science education is using an inquiry model to drive science
curriculum. Inquiry is, in part, a state of mind – that of inquisitiveness. Children
are naturally curious about their world. They often ask “why” or “how” questions
and it is our responsibility to encourage this type of questioning and sustain the
curiosity of our students and help them develop sets of abilities associated with
scientific inquiry. Research has shown that inquiry-based science:
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
Increases cognitive achievement in science and mathematics.

Increases process skills development.

Increases language and reading achievement including vocabulary,
comprehension, and verbal fluency.

Increases scientific literacy and the ability to apply science to everyday life.

Increases critical and logical thinking skills.
The following are three illustrative conclusions about inquiry science by prominent
researchers:
“Students in activity-centered science performed 20 percentile units better than children
in more traditional read-and-tell science classes.” Ted Bredderman
“Students in hands-on science curricula achieved more, liked science more, and
improved their thinking skills more than did students in traditional text-lecture
classes.” James Shymansky
“Inquiry experiences in science provide opportunities for children to engage in
problem-solving experiences that develop thinking skills.” Jerome Bruner
At St. Thomas, we highly value inquiry science, which validates students’ ideas and
creativity, and inspires them to continue to be life-long learners
Bringing the Real World Into Classrooms and Into Children’s Lives
At St. Thomas School, we embrace the natural connection between science and service
learning. Students at STS have numerous opportunities to apply their budding science
processes and research skills to their own community need to make the learning
authentic and important. Students not only build and reinforce scientific skills and
concepts through service learning, but also develop important social skills through
active leadership within the St. Thomas community and beyond. For example, while
learning about sustainability and environmental stewardship in science class, 6th grade
students recognized that improvements could be made in the school lunchroom to
reduce the amount of trash that was being discarded each day and became inspired to
make the school “greener.” They set a school-wide goal to reduce the amount of trash
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in the lunchroom by 40%, which led them to interview and visit local organizations and
ultimately create a plan to build composting bins and organize a school-wide recycling
program. Through the process, the 6th graders mastered science content beyond the
program requirements, calculated that they had reduced landfill-bound waste by more
than a thousand pounds in only a few short months, and became role model stewards
of our environment. The National Research Council’s science education standards
consider projects such as this valuable for helping students understand the connections
between humans and their environment.
Interdisciplinary Approach to Science
St. Thomas School prides itself on a rigorous and rich academic program where the
typical stark lines drawn between subjects are lessened so that science becomes alive
not only during science class, but also in language arts, mathematics, technology, social
studies, art, music, and physical education. Taking science out of the science classroom
allows children to understand that scientific knowledge and skills are applied each and
every day in new situations. Teachers at St. Thomas carefully craft their students’
classroom experiences in teams consisting of classroom teachers, specialists, and often
times administrators. This team approach to planning fosters an integrated approach to
all subjects, not just science, and discards the stand-alone science unit in exchange for
theme-based and project-based learning which research has shown to improve
cognitive development and conceptual understanding in children and gives more
lasting value to what is learned.
For example, STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) advocates for
teacher training and provides resources teachers can use to increase students’
proficiency in the areas of math, science, technology, and engineering to solidify our
nation’s role as a world leader in scientific innovation. Recent research shows that
integration of these areas is vital to reaching this goal. We share the STEM vision and
integrate components of STEM into special projects designed to maximize instructional
time dedicated to math, science, technology, and engineering.
Further evidence of science integration at St. Thomas School can be seen and heard
walking through the hallways and plazas where students’ displayed scientific sketches
of local flora and fauna highlight achievements in art technique and sounds of “the
water cycle boogie” flood the air from music class. St. Thomas School is dedicated to
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capitalizing on these crossovers in education to ensure that our young scientists are
confident and apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways throughout their
lives.
Commitment to Sustainability
The St. Thomas community is committed to sustainable practices which are deeply
rooted in our core beliefs and virtues. We highly value civic responsibility and strive to
meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. Our commitment is evident in both the physical environment in
which we teach and learn and in the way sustainability enriches the broad science
themes, interwoven into the curriculum strands across the grades. Guided by the
Washington Sustainability and Environmental Standards, we study the delicate
balances between ecological, social, and economic systems. From the certified Gold
LEED school building that has earned Energy Star awards for efficiency to the Green
Team of teachers, parents, administrators, and students who put sustainable practices
into action, we live our commitment each and every day.
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