In a 1786 letter to a friend, Thomas Jefferson called for "the diffusion
of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised for the
preservation of freedom and happiness." Jefferson saw clearly what has
since become evident: that nations' fortunes rest on their citizens' ability
to understand and use information about their world.
Given his life-long fascination with the natural world, Jefferson would have
agreed that an understanding of science is critical to the knowledge we all
need to understand and live successfully in our world. The ability to use science
in turn rests on the core education that students gain from kindergarten through
high school.
The science component of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study
(SCS) was created to ensure such an education by establishing competency
goals and objectives for teaching and learning science in all grades. It contains
the concepts and theories, strands, skills, and processes on which all science
instruction should be based. In addition, the curriculum defines and illustrates
the connections between the National Science Education Standards, the Benchmarks
for Scientific Literacy, and the state standards. The SCS is a
guide to stronger, more relevant science education for every student.
The
SCS was last revised in
1999. The 2004 revision has been written to reflect the development of National
Science Education Standards better. The 2004 revision further reflects the recommendations
of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the 1996
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science framework and assessment.
The SCS has been written to expand the intent of previous documents and represents
an evolutionary process of curriculum refinement.
At all levels, science should be taught
with an awareness of its connection to other subjects and to society's needs.
As author James Burke wrote in1978, "This interdependence is typical of
almost every aspect of life in the modern world. We live surrounded by objects
and systems that we take for granted, but which profoundly affect the way we
behave, think, work, play and in, general, conduct our lives and those of our
children." The
SCS embodies this sense of connections, as each
level draws on those that precede it and contributes to those that follow.
An enormous amount of scientific content
has accumulated at an increasing rate, causing curricula to thicken as material
is added but rarely deleted. The science component of the
SCS, therefore,
does not include all science, but instead focuses on the fundamentals of science
that all students should understand and be able to do as they move towards scientific
literacy. Although the revisions suggest less coverage of some topics, they
place more emphasis on teaching for understanding and the ability to apply that
understanding to real life.
The Basic Educational Program for North Carolina's Public Schools
specifies that The North Carolina Standard Course of Study is the curriculum
that should be provided in all schools throughout the state. Local schools are
in compliance with the Basic Educational Plan by providing the learning experiences
as described in the SCS.
Underlying these standards is the principle that neither gender, nor economic
status, nor cultural background limits a student's ability to understand scientific
principles and develop science-related skills.
