Scientific and Engineering Practices in K-12 Classrooms: Understanding a Framework for K-12 Science Education

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This morning I watched Sesame Street. During the show, characters "acted like engineers" and designed a boat so a rock could float. In another segment, children asked questions and made predictions about the best design for a simple car. They then built a model car and completed an investigation to determine which design worked best when the cars went down inclined planes. Children also learned that a wider base provided stability for a tower. And, among other segments, the children counted from 1 to 12 and explored the different combinations of numbers that equaled 12. Bert and Ernie had to move a rock and ended up "inventing" a wheel. These segments exemplify the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) theme that Sesame Street is introducing in the show's 42nd season. What, you ask, does this have to do with science and engineering practices in K-12 classrooms? The producers of Sesame Street decided that STEM practices were important enough that they are using them as substantive themes for the season, if not longer. Children watching Sesame Street will have been introduced to practices such as asking questions and defining problems; developing and using models; planning and carrying out investigations; analyzing and interpreting data; using mathematics; constructing explanations and designing solutions; engaging in arguments using evidence; and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. True, these are sophisticated statements of practices, but many students will be introduced to them when they enter elementary classrooms. In this article, I present the science and engineering practices from the recently released A Framework for K--12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC 2011). I recognize the changes implied by the new framework, and eventually a new generation of science education standards will present new perspectives for the science education community. I am especially sensitive to the challenges for those students in teacher preparation programs and classroom teachers of science at all levels. Questions such as "Why practices and why not inquiry? " and "Why science and engineering? " are reasonable, and I will discuss them later. But to provide background and context, I first discuss the practices. Understanding and applying the science and engineering practices This section further elaborates on the practices and briefly describes what students are to know and be able to do, and how they might be taught. Figures 1 through 8 are adapted from the National Research Council (NRC) framework, with changes for clarity and balance. I have maintained the substantive content. Even before elementary school, children ask questions of each other and of adults about things around them, including the natural and designed world. If students develop the practices of science and engineering, they can ask better questions and improve how they define problems. Students should, for example, learn how to ask questions of each other, to recognize the difference between questions and problems, and to evaluate scientific questions and engineering problems from other types of questions. In upper grades, the practices of asking scientific questions and defining engineering problems advance in subtle ways such as the form and function of data used in answering questions and the criteria and constraints applied to solving problems. In the lower grades, the idea of scientific and engineering models can be introduced using pictures, diagrams, drawings, and simple physical models such as airplanes or cars. In upper grades, simulations and more sophisticated conceptual, mathematical, and computational models may be used to conduct investigations, explore changes in system components, and generate data that can be used in formulating scientific explanations or in proposing technological solutions. …