Fidelity to the new Science curriculum can be attained only if activities form the basis of science instruction at the Elementary Level. In addition, a comment on the Common Essential Learnings is included with many of the Suggested Activities . It is not intended that all of the activities listed in the Core Units of this Curriculum Guide be used in the program, but rather that teacher-selected activities from the Curriculum Guide and as many other sources as possible be integrated to produce a comprehensive unit. The sequence of the activities is at the teacher's discretion. This averages out at 30 minutes or less per day, but it is unlikely that any teacher would find this daily distribution to be of most value.
Flexibility is encouraged in allocating the time distribution.
The determining factors would include the nature of the activities proposed for the science lessons and the rate at which the children could be expected to work. A typical plan may result in three 50 minute sessions in one week, followed by one two hour session and three ten minute periods. Another dimension comes into play, however. The teacher will not be considering Science in isolation from other Required Areas of Study. A teacher may integrate several Required Areas of Study by focusing on a central theme or topic.