Using This Curriculum Guide
Recommendations for allocating time
- Spend a minimum of 10% of the time available for the
course on each core unit. This would be approximately 4 weeks for
a full year course and 2 weeks for a semestered course.
- At least one optional unit must be integrated with a core unit
or completed independently of the core units.
- Aim to spend 30% of class time on optional units or optional
topics within core units.
Scheduling scenarios
These scenarios are provided for a number of reasons. They show
that the
units need not be presented in the order in which they appear in
the Guide.
They also illustrate that core or optional units may be integrated
or taught
concurrently. They give an example of how the time requirements for
each unit
can be expressed in either semestered or in non-semestered
classrooms.
Following are some questions that may be used to guide your
scheduling decisions:
- Do you want to do your life science unit(s) during autumn,
winter, or spring?
- Are there some times during the year when community resources
for a particular unit (people, places to visit) are more available?
- Can you coordinate your schedule with other schools in the
division or classroom in your school in order to share resources?
- Are major holiday periods going to come at key parts of the
course? (You probably wouldn't want to have students doing plant
growth experiments in the classroom during the period which
includes Christmas holidays.)
- Grade 8 nonsemestered classroom
- Saskatchewan Resources (integrated unit
incorporating The Moving Crust and Energy Resources in
Saskatchewan)
August 31 - November 13 (11 weeks)
- Consumer Product Testing
November 16 - December 22 (5.5 weeks)
- Solutions
January 10 - February 18 (6 weeks)
- Earth and Space
February 21 - April 22 (8 weeks)
- Adaptation and Succession (taught concurrently with
Plant Growth, for a 5-week share of the time)
April 25 - June 17 (8 weeks)
- Plant Growth (taught concurrently with Adaptation
and Succession, for a 3-week share of the time)
April 25 - June 17 (8 weeks)
- Grade 9 semestered classroom
- Using Electricity
February 1 - February 25 (4 weeks)
- Chemistry and You
February 28 - March 18 (3 weeks)
- Risks and Limits
March 21 - April 7 (3 weeks)
- The Atmosphere
April 18 - May 13 (4 weeks)
- Saskatchewan - Environment
May 16 - June 15 (4.5 weeks)
Guidelines To Using Resource Materials
To facilitate a resource-based approach, the use of a variety of
resources instead of a single textbook is highly recommended. A
Resource-Based Learning approach requires long-term planning and coordination
within a school or school division. In-school administrators,
teacher-librarians, and others need to take an active role to assist with this planning.
Consult the Bibliography. As new resource materials become available,
Information Bulletins may be issued as updates. They will
indicate which new resources are appropriate for use, as well as those resources that
are no longer available.
Instructional approaches which apply the Adaptive Dimension,
promote equity, emphasize group work, and develop independent learning abilities
make it possible to utilize limited resources in a productive way.
A Science-Technology-Society-Environment (STSE) Approach to
Science Education
The STSE approach recommended for science in Saskatchewan schools
differs from the way science has traditionally been presented. The ideal
is to introduce a topic for study through the description of an
application. In order to understand the science behind the application, knowledge
and skills must be developed, along with activities which give purpose to the
newly acquired knowledge and skills. Alternatively, the activities
may immediately follow the discussion of the application, and serve
to develop the knowledge and skills needed to understand the
application. The arrows on Figure 4 are meant to show the variety
of paths from the description of an application to the final discussion.
Figure 4: An STSE Approach to Science Education
