2001 School Magazine

^ . : science

it is a striking feature of education systems the world over that Science is invariably accorded high status, and allocated considerable resources, throughout the years of compulsory schooling. in low-income countries, where difficult choices about resourcing are Inevitable, Science is a priority subject. in technologically- advanced countries, Science provision for all students throughout their entire school career is becoming the norm. One important reason for this emphasis on Science is the perceived need to maintain a pool of qualified people from whom the scientists, technologists, and technicians of the future may be drawn in any education system. howeveL some of those who study Science at school will not go on to use their Science understanding ditectlyin their future careers. Science remains, however part of their general education one aspect of their preparation for life. The aim is to improve students' scientific literacy and, in a more global sense, the purpose of studying Science is to increase the numbers of scientifically- literate adults in society and to Improve public understanding of Science. in practice, the same Science curriculum 15 often expected to perform both of these functions providing the first stages of Science training for some students and Improving the scientific literacy of all These two outcomes of Science education can often appearin tension yet they share a common goal, that 15 to help students develop their thinking skills as they come to understand some scientific phenomena and increase their knowledge of the world in which they live importantly, the scientific knowledge accessed does not have to be the same for each outcome and differences in curriculum content, emphasis, and approach are warranted

The Faculty of Science at BGGS values its tradition of adding students of quality to the pool of future scientists and technologists. In the face of decreasing standards in scientific understanding that have plagued the world and propagated an immense body of literature, we have endeavoured to integrate a program that is academicallyrigorous with teaching/learning approaches that honour higher-order thinking skills Furthermore, the teachers have been encouraged to assist students to establish links within and across disciplines. These links should also transcend schooling and locate knowledge within the context of the wider world

A particular emphasis of the Science Faculty is to encourage students to develop their critical and abstract thinking skills. Recent research Indicates that these skills develop as a result of practice, not age or stage of development. Bearing this in mind, the Junior Science Program introduces abstract concepts at all levels using concrete materials as scaffolding. It is with this aspect of development, however, that we experience the most resistance from those few students who remain locked in a concrete world and lack the confidence and application required to emerge. These students tend to struggle with the visualisation

necessary to make sense of abstract concepts and frequently opt to disengage rather than accept the challenge offered. To cater for those who have difficulties with abstraction, we have struaured the Year 10 course quite differently We offer both traditional units, which challenge students to adopt higher order thinking strategies and are the perfect preparation for the senior Sciences. and elective units, which contextualise Important scientific concepts within everyday situations Of course, the electives are open to all students and quite a few who decide they are not suited to physics, for example, who opt for an elective Instead of the traditional physics unit in terms of organisational structure, it requires three Year 10 Science classes timetabled on at the same time e. g. , 10 A, B and C. Three teachers are timetabled on with the three classes - a specialist physics teacher, a specialist chemistry teacher and a specialist biology teacher Facilitating one unit only for a year has many advantages, an important one being that it allows teachers to develop multiple teaching approaches which accommodate the learning preferences of all students. The teacher who has the class in Term Three takes them for Forensic Science in Term Four it 15 clear that the students also get exposure to a unit of each of the topics studied in the senior school before subject selection at the end of Term Three. it is hoped that this puts them in a better position to make informed decisions about their future in Science The table outlines the structure of our current Year 10 Science course