A
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY SCIENCE TRAINING PACK 2
A Twenty First Century Science:
its rationale and design
for senior managers, subject leaders and teachers
Twenty First Century Science is a set of GCSE science courses
developed to give all 14 to 16 year olds a worthwhile and inspiring
experience of science.
The strength of the programme is that it meets the needs, through
flexible options, of those who will go on to be professional scientists
and of those who will not.
This section gives you an overview.
CONTENTS
A1 C21 compared with other GCSE science specs
A2 Ppt: Overview of the full suite of C21 science courses
A3 Ppt: GCSE Additional Science
A4 Ppt GCSE Additional Applied Science
A5 Separate Sciences and what they consist of
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A INTRODUCTION AND CONTENTS PAGE 7
A1
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY SCIENCE TRAINING PACK 2
A1 Twenty First Century Science compared with
other GCSE science specifications
After almost a decade of discussion and consultation, the Programme
of Study for KS4 science changed from September 2006. In place of a
standard offer of GCSE Double Award Science targeted at most
students, every Awarding Body now offers a suite of single award
GCSE science courses that can be combined in a variety of ways.
Twenty First Century Science is unique in meeting the criticisms of a
‘one size fits all’ science curriculum by offering a complementary set
of courses, each with its own flavour.
The key ideas behind the Twenty First Century Science model are:
• that the compulsory core of school science should be designed to
develop scientific literacy for all students,
• that from the age of 14, one or more parallel courses are needed for
those who wish to prepare them for more advanced study in science,
and
• that all of these courses are distinct and should differ in content and
character.
GCSE Science
Additional Science
10% curriculum time
10% curriculum time
Emphasis on scientific literacy
or
(science for all)
Additional Applied Science
10% curriculum time
All students do this
Most students also do one of these
Separate Sciences routes are also available – see item A5.
GCSE Science aims to develop the ‘scientific literacy’ that everyone
needs not only to play a full part in a society shaped by science and
technology but also to appreciate what science has to tell us about
ourselves and our world, and about how the scientific community
works. This includes knowledge about the nature of scientific
knowledge, its applications and implications. For some students, the
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A1 COMPARING SPECS PAGE 8
new curriculum also provides the first stage in their training as
scientists or careers that involve some science. This is a small but very
important minority.
Part of the rationale for the Twenty First Century Science model is the
argument that offering ‘science for all’ and ‘science for scientists’ as
distinct courses makes it possible to do both jobs better.
Much thought also went into developing the alternative approaches to
additional science.
GCSE Additional Science has an emphasis on explaining and
theorising which prepares for the more advanced study needed by
scientists, engineers and medical practitioners.
GCSE Additional Applied Science develops practical scientific
capability and underpins more advanced courses leading to
technical occupations in health care, agriculture, the
communication industries and so on.
AQA sciences
AQA’s new GCSE science courses (GCSE Science, GCSE
Additional Science, GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry, and GCSE
Physics) all focus on practical and enquiry skills as well as content.
The GCSE Additional Applied Science has three required
workplace contexts (sports science, food science and forensic
science).
Edexcel 360 Sciences
The Edexcel GCSE science courses (GCSE Science, GCSE
Additional Science, GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry, and GCSE
Physics) all incorporate ‘how science works’ aspects as well as
science content in the written exam papers. Applications and
implications of science specification statements use the stems
‘Explore …’ and ‘Discuss …’ The coursework addresses skills
associated with practical enquiry.
OCR Gateway
The examinable content of Gateway GCSE Science was chosen so
as to focus on ‘science for citizens’. Its coursework includes a
‘Science in the media’ written report and practical ‘Can-do’ tasks.
GCSE Additional Science includes other concepts necessary to
progression in sciences post-16. OCR expects its Gateway centres
to do GCSE Additional Applied Science from the Twenty First
Century Science suite.
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A1 COMPARING SPECS PAGE 9
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A1 COMPARING SPECS PAGE 10
A2, A3, A4
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY SCIENCE TRAINING PACK 2
A2 Overview of the full suite of C21 science courses
Powerpoint presentation
A3 GCSE Additional Science
Powerpoint presentation
A4 GCSE Additional Applied Science
Powerpoint presentation
Download these presentations from www.21stcenturyscience.org
© UYSEG (UNIVERSITY OF YORK) AND NUFFIELD FOUNDATION 2007
A2, A3, A4 C21 COURSES PPTS PAGE 11
A5
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY SCIENCE TRAINING PACK 2
A5 Separate Sciences and what they consist of
GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry, and GCSE Physics are three full
GCSE courses.
Students study all of the Biology, Chemistry, and Physics modules from
both GCSE Science and GCSE Additional Science.
For each of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics there is an extension module
to complete the full GCSE.
In most schools students will have a better experience, and complete the
courses in less time, if the various elements are running concurrently
rather than consecutively. It will make sense to do some of the content of
the Further module during Years 10 and 11 rather than leaving all of it to
the end. The OUP module Overviews for B7, C7 and P7 show how to do
this.
Here is a list of modules in each course.
GCSE Biology
GCSE Chemistry
GCSE Physics
From GCSE Science
B1 You and your genes
C1 Air quality
P1 Earth in the Universe
B2 Keeping healthy
C2 Material choices
P2 Radiation and life
B3 Life on Earth
C3 Food matters
P3 Radioactive materials
From GCSE Additional Science
B4 Homeostasis
C4 Chemical patterns
P4 How and why things move
B5 Growth and
development
C5 Chemicals of the
natural environment
P5 Electric circuits
B6 Brain and mind
C6 Chemical synthesis
P6 The wave model of
radiation
Further Separate Science module
B7 Biology across the
ecosystem
C7 Chemistry for a
sustainable world
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P7 Observing the Universe
A5 SEPARATE SCIENCES. PAGE 12
Twenty First Century Science Training pack 2
downloaded from www.21stcenturyscience.org
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C21 A5 SEPARATE SCIENCES PAGE 13