Queens
College/CUNY
Education Unit
Spring 2014
Science Content Recommendations from NCATE and NSTA
Elementary - generalist | Elementary - middle | All Secondary | Secondary - Biology | Secondary - Chemistry | Secondary - Earth, Space | Secondary - Physics |
C. Recommendations for Secondary Science Teachers
C.1. Recommendations for All Secondary Science Teachers
Secondary teachers are generally prepared with more depth in the content of a given field than are teachers of younger students. The major divisions of the natural sciences are biology, chemistry, the Earth and space sciences, and physics. All teachers licensed in a given discipline should know, understand, and teach with the breadth of understanding reflected in the core competencies for that discipline. Specialists in a discipline should also have achieved the advanced competencies for that discipline. All secondary teachers should also be prepared to lead students to understand the unifying concepts of science including:
- Multiple ways we organize our perceptions of the world and how systems organize the studies and knowledge of science.
- Nature of scientific evidence and the use of models for explanation.
- Measurement as a way of knowing and organizing observations of constancy and change.
- Evolution of natural systems and factors that result in evolution or equilibrium.
- Interrelationships of form, function, and behaviors in living and nonliving systems.