Okla. Admin. Code § 210:15-3-70

Current through Vol. 42, No. 8, January 2, 2025

Section 210:15-3-70 - Overview and organization of standards

(a)Introduction. Science uses observation and experimentation to explain natural phenomena. Science refers to an organized body of knowledge that includes core ideas to the disciplines of science and common themes that bridge the disciplines. The Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science include performance expectations for Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) through grade twelve (12). The performance expectations are arranged by grade levels at grades Pre-K through grade eight (8), and by course subject at the high school level (grades nine (9) through twelve (12)). The Oklahoma Academic Standards include the integration of scientific and engineering practices with core content from Physical Science, Life Science, Earth/Space Science, and Engineering/Technology. This integrated approach will provide students with a coordinated, coherent understanding of the necessary skills and knowledge to be sufficiently literate citizens.

(b)Use of the standards. The standards in this Part describe the specific areas of student learning that are considered the most important for proficiency in the discipline of science at the particular level and provide a basis for the development of local curricula and statewide assessments. The standards in this Part are not sequenced for instruction and do not prescribe classroom activities, materials, or instructional strategies, approaches, or practices. The standards in this Part are not a curriculum and they do not represent a scope, sequence, or curriculum guide. They provide a framework for schools and teachers to develop an aligned science curriculum. Such curriculum includes instructional units, lessons, and tasks; formative and summative assessments; opportunities for remediation and acceleration; and other selected activities, interventions, and strategies deemed appropriate and meaningful for the academic success of students. Because each of the standards subsumes the knowledge and skills of the other standards, they are designed to be used as a whole. Although material can be added to the standards, using only a portion of the standards will leave gaps in the scientific understanding and practice of students. Standards in this Part are organized into the following components:

(1)Performance expectations. Performance expectations represent the things students should know, understand, and be able to do to be proficient in science. Performance expectations are the standards. Each Performance Expectation is built upon the three dimensions of science:

(A)Science and engineering practices. The Science and Engineering Practices that scientists employ as they investigate and build models and theories about the world, and a key set of engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build systems. Performance Expectations that emphasize engineering are designated with an asterisk (*). The eight (8) science and engineering practices are:

(i)Asking questions and defining problems. A practice of science is to ask and refine questions that lead to descriptions and explanations of how the natural and designed world(s) works. Engineering questions clarify problems to determine criteria for successful solutions.

(ii)Developing and using models. A practice of both science and engineering is to use and construct models as helpful tools for representing ideas and explanations. These tools include diagrams, drawings, physical replicas, mathematical representations, analogies, and computer simulations.

(iii)Planning and carrying out investigations. Scientists and engineers plan and carry out investigations in the field or laboratory, working collectively as well as individually. Their investigations are systematic and require clarifying what counts as data and identifying variables or parameters.

(iv)Analyzing and interpreting data. Scientific investigations produce data that must be analyzed in order to derive meaning, and engineering investigations include analysis of data collected in the tests of designs.

(v)Using mathematics and computational thinking. In both science and engineering, mathematics and computation are fundamental tools for representing physical variables and their relationships. They are used for constructing simulations; solving equations exactly or approximately; and recognizing, expressing, and applying quantitative relationships.

(vi)Constructing explanations and designing solutions. End products of science are explanations, and end products of engineering are solutions. The construction of theories provides explanatory accounts of the world and scientific knowledge is utilized in the development of solutions to problems.

(vii)Engaging scientific argument from evidence. Argumentation is the process by which evidence-based conclusions and solutions are reached. In science and engineering, reasoning and argument based on evidence are essential to identifying the best explanation for a natural phenomenon or the best solution to a design problem.

(viii)Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Scientists and engineers must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively the ideas and methods they generate. Critiquing and communicating ideas individually and in groups is a critical professional activity.

(B)Disciplinary core ideas. Disciplinary Core Ideas represent a set of science and engineering ideas for K-12 science education that have broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering disciplines; provide a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems; relate to the interests and life experiences of students; and are teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of sophistication. Disciplinary Core Ideas are grouped into four domains:

(i)Domain 1: Physical Science (PS). Most systems or processes depend at some level on physical and chemical subprocesses, whether the system is a star, Earth's atmosphere, a river, a bicycle, or a living cell. To understand the physical and chemical basis of a system, students must understand the structure of matter, the forces between objects, the related energy transfers, and their consequences. In this way, the underlying principles of physical science, chemistry, and physics allow students to understand all natural and human-created phenomena.

(ii)Domain 2: Life Science (LS). The life sciences focus on patterns, processes, and relationships of living organisms. The study of life ranges over scales from single molecules, organisms, and ecosystems to the entire biosphere. A core principle of the life sciences is that organisms are related through common ancestry and that processes of natural selection have led to the tremendous diversity of the biosphere. Through courses like Biology and Environmental Science, students explore all aspects of living things and the environments they live in.

(iii)Domain 3. Earth and Space Science (ESS). Through Earth and Space Sciences (ESS), students investigate processes that operate on Earth and also address Earth's place in the solar system and the galaxy. ESS involve phenomena that range in scale from unimaginably large to invisibly small and provide students opportunities to understand how the atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are connected.

(iv)Domain 4. Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS). The applications of science knowledge and practices to engineering have contributed to the technologies and the systems that serve people today. Insights gained from scientific discovery have altered the ways in which buildings, bridges, and cities are constructed; changed the operations of factories; led to new methods of generating and distributing energy; and created new modes of travel and communication. An overarching goal of ETS is for students to explore links among engineering, technology, science, and society throughout the physical, life, and Earth and space sciences.

(C)Crosscutting concepts. The Crosscutting Concepts represent common threads or themes that span across science disciplines (biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, Earth/space science) and have value to both scientists and engineers because they identify universal properties and processes found in all disciplines. These Crosscutting Concepts are:

(i)Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification. Patterns prompt questions about the factors that influence cause and effect relationships. Patterns are useful as evidence to support explanations and arguments.

(ii)Cause and Effect. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted and complex. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.

(iii)Scale, Proportion, Quantity. In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportions, or quantity affect a system's structure or performance.

(iv)Systems and System Models. Defining the system under study-specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system-provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.

(v)Energy and Matter. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the system's possibilities and limitations.

(vi)Structure and Function. An object's structure and shape determine many of its properties and functions. The structures, shapes, and substructures of living organisms determine how the organism functions to meet its needs within an environment.

(vii)Stability and Change. For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and rates of change provide the focus for understanding how the system operates and causes for changes in systems.

(2)Clarification statements. Where needed, a clarification statement accompanies a performance expectation. The aim of a clarification statement is to provide further explanation or examples to better support educators in understanding the aim of the performance expectation.

(3)Assessment boundary. Where applicable, an Assessment Boundary accompanies a Performance Expectation in order to provide additional support for educators in understanding the intent of the Performance Expectation and its relation to other Performance Expectations in the learning progression. Teachers should utilize the Assessment Boundaries as tools for developing curriculum and local assessments. For 5 ^th grade, 8 ^th grade, Biology, and Physical Science(s) the Assessment Boundaries will be utilized to inform the development of the state summative academic achievement assessments.

Okla. Admin. Code § 210:15-3-70

Added at 20 Ok Reg 159, eff 10-10-02 (emergency); Added at 20 Ok Reg 821, eff 5-15-03; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 2264, eff 7-25-11

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 38, Issue 24, September 1, 2021, eff. 9/11/2021