| NSES Content Standard A
Science as Inquiry: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Grades 5-8, page 145 Design and conduct a scientific investigation. Students should develop
general abilities, such as systematic observation, making accurate measurements,
and identifying and controlling variables. They should also develop the
ability to clarify their ideas that are influencing and guiding the inquiry,
and to understand how those ideas compare with current scientific knowledge.
Students can learn to formulate questions, design investigations, execute
investigations, interpret data, use evidence to generate explanations,
propose alternative explanations, and critique explanations and procedures.
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Benchmark 1B The Nature of Science: Scientific
Inquiry
Grades 6-8, page 12
If more than one variable changes at the same time in an experiment,
the outcome of the experiment may not be clearly attributable to any one
of the variables. It may not always be possible to prevent outside variables
from influencing the outcome of an investigation (or even to identify all
of the variables), but collaboration among investigators can often lead
to research designs that are able to deal with such situations.
Benchmark 1B The Nature of Science: Scientific
Inquiry
Grades 6-8, page 12
What people expect to observe often affects what they actually do observe.
Strong beliefs about what should happen in particular circumstances can
prevent them from detecting other results. Scientists know about this danger
to objectivity and take steps to try and avoid it when designing investigations
and examining data. One safeguard is to have different investigators conduct
independent studies of the same questions.
Benchmark 12A Habits of Mind: Values
and Attitudes
Grades 6-8, page 287
Know that hypotheses are valuable, even if they turn out not to be
true, if they lead to fruitful investigations.
Benchmark 12A Habits of Mind: Values
and Attitudes
Grades 6-8, page 287
Know that often different explanations can be given for the same evidence,
and it is not always possible to tell which one is correct.
Benchmark 12E Habits of Mind: Critical-Response
Skills
Grades 6-8, page 299
Question claims based on vague attributions (such as "Leading doctors
say...") or on statements made by celebrities or others outside the area
of their particular expertise.
Benchmark 12E Habits of Mind: Critical-Response
Skills
Grades 6-8, page 299
Be skeptical of arguments based on very small samples of data, biased
samples, or samples for which there was no control sample.
Benchmark 12E Habits of Mind: Critical-Response
Skills
Grades 6-8, page 299
Be aware that there may be more than one good way to interpret a given
set of findings.
Benchmark 12E Habits of Mind: Critical-Response
Skills
Grades 6-8, page 299
Notice and criticize the reasoning in arguments in which (1) fact and
opinion are intermingled or the conclusions do not follow logically from
the evidence given, (2) an analogy is not apt, (3) no mention is made of
whether the control groups are very much like the experimental group, or
(4) all members of a group (such as teenagers or chemists) are implied
to have nearly identical characteristics that differ from those of other
groups.