Taking Science To School publication NRC

I've found the motherload of thinking and info on current science education needs.

TAKING SCIENCE TO SCHOOL
Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8
Committee on Science Learning, Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade
Richard A. Duschl, Heidi A. Schweingruber, and Andrew W. Shouse, Editors
Board on Science Education
Center for Education
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

As best I can tell, I can buy a hardback version for $50, a PDF for $39, or read it online for free.

The charge to this committee was to answer three broad questions:
(1) How is science learned, and are there critical stages in children’s development of scientific concepts?
(2) How should science be taught in K-8 classrooms?
(3) What research is needed to increase understanding about how students learn science?

Four Strands defining Students who are proficient in science:
a know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world;
b generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations;
c understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge; and
d participate productively in scientific practices and discourse.

They started with a number of assumptions about how children learn science, among them:

Students learn science by actively engaging in the practices of science.
A range of instructional approaches is necessary as part of a full development of science proficiency.

They came up with, as they summarized, five conclusions about science curriculum, which I'll further summarize here:


1: Science curriculum should be revised to reflect new models of education and development.

2: The next gen should teach a few core ideas cumulatively K-8. Core ideas. Cumulatively.

3: The next gen should present science as an ongoing process of theorizing, weighing evidence, and testing empirically and for internal consistency and coherence.

4: Science instruction should teach all four strands of science proficiency

5: Next gen should include in the classroom the process of science as described in point 3.

Is this summary sufficient? No, what was lost if the repetitive summarizing. I'll read much of it to find out.

Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8