The results of the general comparison are presented here using the eight NSES content standard categories.
Science as Inquiry
The greatest apparent difference between NSES and SFAA/Benchmarks is in their treatment of inquiry. Both agree that students should understand some important things about scientific investigation, and both agree that there are some skills related to inquiry that all students should retain beyond school as part of science literacy (for example, keeping decipherable notes, sketching comprehensible graphs, constructing a reasonable argument). There is also agreement that students should retain the ability to think critically about reports of research (although SFAA/Benchmarks goes into somewhat more detail on what "critical response" should include). Further, both agree that acquiring such understandings and skills requires that students have carried out some scientific investigations themselves -- and therefore that standards for teaching should require appropriate hands-on work. (Recommendations on teaching scientific inquiry and design are found in Benchmarks essays at the beginning of sections 1B and 3B, respectively.)
NSES goes further, however, in specifying in the content standards that all students should learn to plan and carry out complete scientific investigations--to become, as the document says, "independent inquirers about the natural world." While Project 2061 considers the retained ability to conduct scientific research to be highly desirable for students who will specialize in science-related careers, it considers adult science literacy to be adequately [admirably?] served by the ability to react critically to reports of research, such as commonly appear in the public media. (Such skills are drawn together by SFAA/Benchmarks in the chapter Habits of Mind, along with other skills.)
If "abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry" are included in NSES in the expectation that all science-literate adults will be able to actually carry out, as well as critique, scientific investigations, then there is a legitimate difference in optimism about learning. It is possible, however, that NSES includes inquiry among content standards not so much to foster eventual adult behavior as to establish the necessity of hands-on experiences in inquiry--that is, as a way of giving greater weight to what are actually teaching standards. If that were the case, then the difference in opinion is about neither literacy nor learning, but about the value of separating ends and means in making recommendations for reform.
Also, NSES treats Scientific Inquiry separately from the Nature of Science, whereas SFAA/Benchmarks treats it as part of the Nature of Science, i.e., along with "The Scientific World View" and "The Scientific Enterprise." Perhaps it is a difference of, in the one case, emphasizing inquiry and, in the other, emphasizing an integrated view of science.
History & Nature of Science
NSES packages the history and nature of science together, focusing on general lessons about the nature of science to be learned from studying the history of science. In contrast, Project 2061 treats them separately and argues that history has both instrumental value and value for its own sake:
In any case, NSES goes on to list 16 topics that merit historical treatment, ten that appear to fit the SFAA/Benchmarks episodes plus five more--molecular biology, information & communication, quantum theory, galactic universe, and medical & health technology. The report does not say what all students should learn from them.
Science & Technology
There are two major differences in the approach to this content taken by the two documents. One is that NSES places a great deal of emphasis--consistent with its approach to inquiry--on having all students learn how to carry out design projects as adults, whereas SFAA/Benchmarks emphasizes understanding the nature of design.
Another difference is that NSES covers much less technology ground than SFAA/Benchmarks does. NSES explicitly states that it does not include "technology education" and deals with technology primarily in terms of its relation to science. Besides leaving out some key topics--feedback and control in technological systems and design failure and ways of reducing it are examples--NSES does not include any of the topics in the SFAA/Benchmarks Designed World chapter. (NSES includes Information & Communication and Medical & Health Technology in its list of historical episodes that might be studied, but does not include any specific "fundamental concepts" for them.)
Unifying Concepts & Processes
The NSES content here is similar to that in SFAA/Benchmarks,
which is seen more easily when subheadings similar to those in SFAA
are used:
| NSES | SFAA/Benchmarks |
| Systems, order and organization | Systems |
| Evidence, models and explanation | Models
physical models conceptual models mathematical models |
| Constancy, change, and measurement
Evolution and equilibrium Form and function |
Constancy and Change
stability & equilibrium conservation symmetry trends cycles chaos evolution |
| Scale |
Physical Science
Earth & Space Science
The content in these two NSES standards corresponds closely to
that found in the SFAA/Benchmarks chapter The Physical Setting.
The few differences that do exist between them in what is included and
in level of treatment is revealed in the fundamental concept/benchmark-level
analysis , and the results are reported below in the section on specific
findings. At the general level, the main difference is organizational,
with Project 2061 opting to take a more integrated view of the physical
sciences. Also coming into play is the difference in style in which
the NRC content standards vary topically by grade band, whereas
SFAA/Benchmarks holds the major topics constant and varies the substance
of each topic at the benchmark level. Table 2 presents a comparison
at the topic level.
Life Science
Much the same story holds true in comparing the NSES Life Science
standards to the SFAA/Benchmarks chapters The Living Environment
and The Human Organism. Table 3 shows how they compare at a general
section or topic level.
Personal & Social Perspectives
This NSES standard relates to some content in eight SFAA/Benchmarks chapters. Table 4 lists, without regard to grade level, the topics treated in NSES Personal & Social Perspectives standards and the SFAA/Benchmarks sections it encompasses. That comparison can be a little misleading, however, unless one refers to the benchmark level analysis, since NSES may draw only one or two ideas from a given SFAA/Benchmarks section.
As a matter of focus, the NSES rendition is more explicit than
its SFAA/Benchmarks counterpart in preparation for social action,
as indicated by casting these standards in terms of environmental protection,
population growth, hazards, and the like. But, on the other hand, the learning
goals in SFAA/Benchmarks were selected to insure that all graduates
of our schools would have the knowledge and skills necessary to deal effectively
with whatever social issues present themselves, including population and
environment. In spite of its emphasis on social matters, NSES does
not draw at all on SFAA/Benchmarks sections Cultural Effects on
Behavior, Group Behavior, or Social Conflict.
| NSES: Physical Science
K-4 Properties of objects and materials Position and motion of objects Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism 5-8 Properties and changes of properties in matter Motions and forces Transfer of energy 9-12 The structure of atoms Structure and properties of matter Chemical reactions Motions and forces Conservation of energy and increase in disorder Interaction of energy and matter NSES: Earth and Space Science K-4 Properties of earth materials Objects in the sky Changes in Earth and sky 5-8 Structure of the earth system Earth's history Earth in the Solar System 9-12 Energy in the earth system Geochemical cycles The origin and evolution of the Earth system The origin and evolution of the universe |
Benchmarks: The Physical
Setting
The Universe K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 The Earth K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Processes that shape the earth K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Structure of matter K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Energy transformations K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Motion K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Forces of Nature K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 |
NSES: Life ScienceK-4
The characteristics of organisms
Life cycles of organisms
Organisms and environments
5-8
Structure and function in living systems
Reproduction and heredity
Regulation and behavior
Populations and ecosystems
Diversity and adaptations of organisms
9-12
The cell
The molecular basis of heredity
Biological evolution
The interdependence of organisms
Matter, energy, and the organization
in living systems
The behavior of organisms
Benchmarks: Living Environment
Diversity of Life
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Heredity
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Cells
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Interdependence of Life
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Flow of Matter & Energy
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Evolution of Life
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Benchmarks: The Human Organism
Human Identity
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Human Development
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Basic Functions
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Learning
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Physical Health
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
Mental Health
K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12
K-4
Personal health
Characteristics and changes in populations
Types of resources
Changes in environments
Science & technology in local challenges
5-8
Personal health
Populations, resources, and environments
Natural hazards
Risks and benefits
Science and technology in society
9-12
Personal and community health
Population growth
Natural resources
Environmental quality
Natural and human-induced hazards
Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
Benchmarks sections with comparable ideas:
The scientific world view
The scientific enterprise
Technology and science
Design and systems
Issues in technology
The earth
Process that shape the earth
Interdependence of life
Flow of matter and energy
Evolution of life
Human development
Basic functions
Physical health
Mental health
Cultural effects on behavior
Social change
Social trade-offs
Political and economic systems
Global interdependence
Agriculture
Materials and manufacturing
Energy sources and use
Health technology
Harnessing power
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