Mid-Columbia Regional Science and Engineering Fair emphasizes the Science and Engineering Practices in the Next Generation Science Standards
Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) there are three distinct and equally important dimensions ( Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, Cross-Cutting Concepts) to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard – or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.
Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by “inquiry” in science and the cognitive and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen and apply their knowledge and core ideas and crosscutting concepts.
The eight practices of science and engineering that the standards identify as essential for all students to learn are listed below:
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
- Developing and using models
- Planning and carrying out investigations
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Using mathematics and computational thinking
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Rationale – reasons why these eight practices of science and engineering are essential.
Engaging in the practices of science helps students understand how scientific knowledge develops; such direct involvement gives them an appreciation of the wide range of approaches that are used to investigate, model, and explain the words. Engaging in the practices of engineering likewise helps students understand the work of engineers, as well as the links between engineering and science. Participation in these practices also helps students form an understanding of the crosscutting concepts and disciplinary ideas of science and engineering; moreover, it makes students’ knowledge more meaningful and embeds it more deeply into their worldview.
The actual doing of science or engineering can also pique students’ curiosity, capture their interest, and motivate their continued study; the insights thus gained help them recognize that the work of scientists and engineers is a creative endeavor— one that has deeply affected the world they live in. Students may then recognize that science and engineering can contribute to meeting many of the major challenges that confront society today, such as generating sufficient energy, preventing and treating disease, maintaining supplies of fresh water and food, and addressing climate change.
Any education that focuses predominantly on the detailed products of scientific labor–the facts of science– without developing an understanding of how those facts were established or that ignores the many important applications of science in the world misrepresents science and marginalizes the importance of engineering. (www.nextgenscience.org)