BSCS Science Tracks: Connecting Science And Literacy: Investigating Position And Motion Student Guide

PHYSICAL SCIENCE-In this module, the students learn about "relative position" and motion of objects. They learn how to describe accurately the position of an object relative to themselves and to another reference object by using terms, such as "in front of," "to the left of," "in back of," "to the right of," and by measuring distances from one object to another. They represent the position of objects on self-made maps and relate their maps to those of city streets and of stores in the shopping mall. They learn that objects move in many different ways--in a straight line, zigzag, back and forth, round and round--and represent the motion of objects by making paths. They learn to describe the motion of objects in terms of speed and direction and relate changes in the motion of objects to a force--a push or a pull--that acts on an object.

BSCS Science Tracks includes a comprehensive Student Guide and resource book at every level, 1-5. The Student Guide is not a "read-about-science" book; rather, it serves as a guide to help students learn to do the following things.

• Conduct scientific inquiries within a collaborative team and on their own
• Become more responsible for their own learning
• Manage the hands-on activities themselves
• Structure collaborative learning tasks
• Develop science and technology concepts and skills
• Reflect on their learning and assess their own conceptual and skill development
• Conduct independent inquiries related to questions or topics of personal interest
• Develop skills for reading in the content areas
• Follow and interpret directions

In addition, the Student Guides reinforce components of basic literacy, including shared reading and writing, guided reading and writing, continuous assessment, skills instruction, reading procedural text, listening and speaking skills, journal writing, record keeping, hints and reminders, reading and writing in a social context, and reading and writing in a content area.