Indiana Alignment
Download the Science Companion Indiana Alignment
Science Companion represents a significant evolutionary advance in science education. It builds on the best available research, applicable standards, and most successful of previous efforts to increase the reach and effectiveness of science and mathematics education on a large scale. It is robust, supportive of teachers, age-appropriate for students, and both pragmatic and flexible in its implementation strategies and requirements. It integrates well with a wide variety of classroom situations, and across subject areas. Perhaps most important, it integrates active, ongoing formative and summative research to improve the efficacy of both educators and science education, based on actual classroom experience and results.
The 2010 Indiana Revised Academic Standards for Science implicitly and explicitly point to a more student-centered approach to instructional design that engages learners in inquiry. Inquiry envisions learners who:
- Are engaged by scientifically-oriented questions.
- Prioritize evidence that addresses scientifically-oriented questions.
- Formulate explanations from that evidence to address those scientifically-oriented questions.
- Evaluate their explanations in light of alternative explanations, particularly those reflecting scientific understanding.
- Communicate and justify their proposed explanations.
Testimony from Lois Benton, Principal, Jamison Elementary School, Central Bucks School District, PA I continually see children gaining a big interest in science since implementing Science Companion. I keep telling the children they are learning science information that I did not learn until middle school and high school. Thanks for making a difference for the CB students.
Science Companion is poised to meet the needs of educators as they embark on these new science standards. Science Companion was developed based on the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Benchmarks for Science Literacy (AAAS, 1993, 2009) and the National Research Council (NRC) National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996). It uses active student inquiry to promote application and thorough understanding of science concepts, science processes, critical-thinking skills, and problem-solving strategies. All of these qualities make Science Companion a good match for Indiana.
This document provides a recommended scope and sequence of the Science Companion® curriculum, based upon the 2010 Indiana Revised Academic Standards for Science. There are four strands (Physical Science; Earth and Space Science; Life Science; and Science, Engineering and Technology) within the standards. Within each of these four strands, there are a number of standards. In doing the scope and sequence, the relevant Science Companion modules were evaluated to see which ones were the best match for the standards.
