COURSE TITLE: INTEGRATED SCIENCE IV

COMPUTER TITLE INTEG SCI IV

COMPUTER CODE SCG302

GRADE LEVEL 9-12

LENGTH OF COURSE 36 weeks

Laboratory Requirement: Students who take this course spend a minimum of 30% of their time engaged in laboratory exercises.

Major Concepts/Content: Integrated Science IV is designed to provide students with an integrated approach to three traditional science disciplines (life science, physical science, earth/space science) in addition to science as inquiry, science & technology, science and social perspectives, and the history & nature of science. The course integrates the traditional disciplines using the unifying concepts and processes of systems, order & organization, evidence, models & explanation, change, consistency & equilibrium, and form & function.

Scientific inquiry and understanding about inquiry are emphasized through practical implications and meaningful applications. Topics students study include atomic structure, refraction & reflection, fusion & fission, elements & compounds, organic & inorganic compounds, characteristics of sound, chemical reactions, DNA, ecosystems, biotic & abiotic features, chemical cycles, succession, niches, evolution, formation of galaxies, space exploration, oceanography, coastal features, and global weather phenomena.

Major Instructional Activities: Based on the philosophy that scientific knowledge is best acquired through inquiry, the course uses a variety of techniques to introduce, stimulate, explore, and reinforce major scientific concepts, theories, and principles.

Instructional activities in this course are staged in appropriate settings. They include laboratories, classrooms, forms of technology, and field studies. Teaching strategies include investigations, demonstrations, discussions, and hands-on/minds-on experiences.

Major Evaluation Techniques: All aspects (e.g., ability to inquire, scientific understanding of the natural world, and understanding of the nature and utility of science) of progress in science are measured using multiple methods such as individual and group performances, projects, interviews, reports, student-generated works and/or conventional testing.

Essential Objectives: Upon completion of Integrated Science IV students should be able to:

• Engage in full and partial scientific inquiries to design, conduct, and communicate scientific investigations to explore ideas about the natural world.
• Use scientific inquiry to design and conduct scientific investigations to meet a human need, make a decision, solve a human problem, or develop a product.
• Recognize and describe the interrelationship between science and technology.
• Apply the tools of technology (e.g., computers) in scientific endeavors.
• Identify qualities inherent in scientific behavior (e.g., reasoning, insight, energy, skill, and creativity).
• Discuss contributions of men and women of various social and ethnic backgrounds to science and technology.
• Apply science concepts to make decisions (weighing risks and benefits) about students' personal health and well being.
• Relate the physical properties of elements and compounds to specific interactions among ions, atoms, and molecules.
• Explain the properties and characteristics of sound with regard to frequency, waves, wavelength, resonance, vibration, volume, pitch, and intensity.
• Explain changes in cycles in the biosphere, their relationships to each other, and their relationships to living organisms.
• Identify adaptations of organisms to specific niches.
• Analyze different scientific theories that explain the origin and evolution of the earth.
• Evaluate human influence on the marine environment.
• Interpret sea floor topography.
• Investigate the dynamic processes that influence global climate.