Fundamentals of Planning an Integrated Science Curriculum
Integrated Science as administrators define it is a "coordinated science, unified science, and alternated science" (Bybee, Dougherty, Scooter)
In order to be integrated, you need to cross boundaries and in the students' eyes those boundaries should disappear! It should not be coordinated but rather logical and sound. Where do you start?!
Benefits of Integrated Science
Fallbacks of Integrated Science
Having an integrated classroom can give students a good overview of the main themes and concepts in science. Personally, I think an integrated science class would be best for freshman in high school because you would be introducing them to the sciences. I could also see it done senior year to connect what the students have learned in the science classroom to make connections. The article made it sound like you could teach just integrated sciences and shorten the amount of time students spend in the sciences. I may be a little biased but I think students need a minimum of 3 years in high school to have a good understanding of science. ARTICLE LINK:
http://static.nsta.org/files/tst0009_24.pdf
3 Comments
Nick B
1/30/2016 11:50:46 am
In middle schools year long science courses rarely cover only one discipline of the sciences and can therefore be considered at some level to be integrated science courses. It is clear however that these courses are not perfect and one of the greatest flaws that annoy me is a lack of flow between the subjects. A class will jump from astronomy to geology to cell biology without any intermediary explaining the connection between each. To apply integrated science courses at the high school or higher level where the disciplinary coverage deepens appreciably would likely increase the jarring jumps between subjects. Do you have any recommendations on ways to lessen the jumps between the subjects and/or increase the cohesion of the discipline as a whole?
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Devon
1/31/2016 07:50:06 am
I feel like integrated sciences is a loaded topic, and there is so much to be said about it, however, I feel like you only scratched the surface. I'd like to know if you plan on integrating science in your own classroom, even if the curriculum doesn't require that. Also, how do you plan on teaching others to integrate their science classrooms?
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Mary Beth
1/31/2016 11:53:30 am
This is a nice comparison of the pros and cons of integrated science. However, a lot of schools (specifically my own high school), taught integrated my sophomore year and biology my freshman year. Yes, integrated can jump around a lot but it gives a look at as many sciences as possibly. I never got to take physics because of my schedule, but at least integrated gave me some building blocks for it when I do take it.
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AuthorAnna Kirkpatrick www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/kirkpatrickscience
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