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Curriculum Development > High School 9-12 > Comprehensive Programs > BSCS Science: An Inquiry Approach > Framework

Framework

A Coherent, Rigorous Framework

BSCS Science: An Inquiry Approach is centered on a coherent, carefully articulated conceptual framework. This framework identifies the five units that make up each full year of study along with the standards-based concepts addressed in each unit at each grade level.

Each year, the two-week Science as Inquiry unit provides opportunities for students to develop their abilities and deepen their understandings of inquiry in different contexts. In this way, inquiry serves as the overarching integrator of the curriculum.

The next three units, one each in physical science, life science, earth-space science, provide opportunities for students to develop their understanding of subject matter concepts. Students study each science each year, focusing on different concepts that build on previous experiences. Each of these units contains four chapters, including a culminating chapter that presents learners with a new context for applying their understanding and integrates one or more of the other sciences.

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Grades 6-11
Grades 9-11

The final unit of the year provides opportunities for students to develop their problem-solving and decision-making skills in an integrated context. In this unit, students deepen their understanding of science by applying it to personal and social issues that help them examine connections between the natural and designed worlds.

Students delve into the history and nature of science at appropriate points throughout each year. Each chapter is designed to take about two weeks of classroom time, and each core unit, then, is designed to take approximately eight weeks. These estimates are based on a 45-50 minute class period, meeting five times a week.

The framework presents a coherent sequence of study vertically through each year across the disciplines and horizontally across the years building concepts within each discipline. This feature of coherence is critical to effective student learning (Schmidt, et al, 1997; Rutherford, 2000). The program features conceptual connections to ideas students have examined in previous units and previous years as well as "creating a need to know" for ideas they are about to encounter. The focused design of the curriculum provides opportunities for students to build a strong foundation of fundamental science concepts and prepares them for more in-depth study in any science discipline.