Curriculum Outcomes

The material covered in this unit addresses core curriculum outcomes in Science. While the focus of these units is on the Science Curriculum, teachers will no doubt see many opportunities to cover outcomes in other curriculae, such as Language, Art, Mathematics, and Social Studies, and are encouraged to do so.

Science Plant Growth and Changes
From the Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes K-12, Pan-Canadian Protocol for Collaboration on School Curriculum, Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), 1997.
Knowledge Identify and investigate life needs of plants and describe how plants are affected by the conditions in which they grow.
Initiating and planning Ask questions that lead to exploration and investigation.
Make predictions, based on an observed pattern.
Performing and recording Make and record relevant observations and measurements, using written language, pictures, and charts.
Estimate measurements.
Analysing and interpreting Identify and suggest explanations for patterns and discrepancies in observed objects and events.
Communication and teamwork Identify common objects and events, using terminology and language that others understand.
Mathematics

Interpret data using a line graph.
Display data using a line graph.
Estimate length using conventional units.
Language

Use language for learning and thinking.

Share information with peers and teacher.
Ask and answer questions from peers and teacher.
Develop new vocabulary to express new ideas and to meet the demands of disciplines such as science
Prepare a glossary.

Lesson Plan Themes

The materials contained in the lesson plans of this unit are designed to help students develop a conceptual understanding of key ideas in Science. These key ideas are related to living and working in environments which are limited in available space and also limited in available resources. To put these limitations in a contemporary setting, a mission to Mars is imagined.

Each lesson plan deals with a single issue related to a human mission to Mars.

Why A Mission to Mars?

For many people, the technical and intellectual challenge, the sense of adventure, and the excitement engendered by such an ambitious challenge are sufficient reasons to justify undertaking such a task. For others the justification is measured in terms of scientific gains in our knowledge and understanding of exotic places and the intrinsic need to satisfy our curiosity. Some may see Mars as a source of profit and economic gain and still others, a chance to satisfy a deep seated need to explore and pioneer new lands.

From a teaching perspective, planning a mission to Mars provides an unparalleled opportunity for students to develop clear conceptual insight into the laws of nature. In our everyday complex lives it is often difficult to distinguish the significant from the trivial, the fundamental from the superfluous, and the essential from the extraneous.

A good way to develop a clearer understanding of the natural processes which govern every aspect of our lives is to imagine ourselves in a uniquely different setting, completely devoid of any natural resources and then to ask the question," What do we need to survive?"

Planning a mission to Mars provides a unique opportunity to evaluate and understand both the environmental issues and physiological issues related to human survival.

Undertaking a voyage to Mars requires the most rigorous application of mankind's greatest intellectual invention called Science.

What is Science?

One often sees lists of facts, huge compendiums of numerical data, catalogues of information about topics as diverse as sea shells and interstellar molecules presented as if it were Science when in fact this is really related more to Information Technology than to Science.

Science is a methodology, whereby one can, by careful observation and logical deductive reasoning, systematically discover the natural laws which every process in the Universe must obey.
It is easy to confuse what we have learned from Science with the methodology of Science.

Good Science teaching begins by helping one's students develop a healthy skepticism for "facts" and a healthy trust in observation and careful reasoning. Students should learn to mistrust "anecdotal" evidence as a reliable source of truth, and learn to ask probing questions into mysteries of the world that they see around them. They should learn to spontaneously seek unequivocal evidence to support a claim before deciding if claim is, in fact, "true".

Almost every good Science lesson should begin with a question. With guidance from their teacher, students should undertake to answer the question, by observation, by experiment, by prediction (based on well understood laws and principles).

In these lesson plans the questions are, "Is it possible for humans to get to the planet Mars?" and "How will humans survive in space and on the planet Mars?"

Important Information for Teachers about Mass, Weight, Pressure, Force and Energy

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Prepared by YES I Can! Science
Faculty of Pure and Applied Science
York University