The rationale for this emphasis is that scientific knowledge is meaningful to learners only when it is useful in making sense of the world they encounter. The primary goal of science education is to help students develop meaningful conceptual understandings of science and its ways of describing, predicting, explaining, and controlling natural phenomena. The central goal of science education is to develop scientific literacy for all students. Instruction is designed to integrate science processes and conceptual knowledge. The science processes are used within a conceptual framework, and the focus is on the power of conceptual understanding.
Content is important as it contributes to conceptual understanding.
However, the emphasis is on the acquisition of understanding, not on rote memorization, terminology, etc. A fourth emphasis that is still developing is thematic science teaching. The concepts that compose the science curriculum are built upon a structure of major ideas that connect the science disciplines. Project 2061 is aimed at identifying, developing curriculum models for, and implementing the understandings and habits of mind essential for all citizens in a scientifically literate society. The NSTA project proposes a major change in the structure of the science curriculum.