MAKING SENSE OF THE NATURE OF SCIENCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO TECHNOLOGY: LEVEL 6

ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES

Students can

understand the characteristics of a scientific experiment;
describe how technology has contributed to, and at times helped change, scientific ideas, e.g., lens grinding, timing devices, photography, the electron microscope, lasers;
investigate how knowledge of science and technology is used by society when making decisions about environmental issues, e.g., fish farming, sewage treatment, food irradiation, recyclable packaging, organic farming.

Students could be learning by:

carrying out a 'fair test' on the insulating properties of different thicknesses of polystyrene (P 6.1);
trying out different proportions of gravel, sand, and cement to identify factors which contribute to the strength of concrete (E 6.1/2);
carrying out peer reviews of their classmates' experiments on the effectiveness of a variety of commercial antacids (M 6.2);
analysing Pasteur's experimental results with food in closed and open containers, and making predictions about possible causes of these results (L 6.1);
finding out about the effect of van Leeuwenhoek's work with lenses, which led to our knowledge of microbes (L 6.1);
presenting a case for a variety of health treatment options being available in the community (L 6.1);
researching the problems faced by Semmelweiss in getting doctors to adopt the hygienic practices of midwives (L 6.1).

ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES

Teachers and students could assess the students':

awareness of the need for replication of results, when the students carry out their own experiments on a selected aspect of the living, physical, or material worlds;
ability to design and carry out an experimental investigation, when the students analyse a range of consumer products;
ability to describe the role of technology in changing scientific ideas, when the students write a report discussing how the development of telescopes has contributed to changing ideas about the solar system;
information research skills, when the students present a speech or seminar on the impact of sewage treatment on local waterways.