BSCS Science Tracks: Connecting Science And Literacy: Testing Materials Student Guide

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY-In this module, students investigate the materials from which objects are made. They discover that all materials have properties, such as color, hardness, transparency, and absorbency, and that people select a material for a certain purpose according to the properties of the material. Students compare materials in terms of their response to puffs of air and water. They compare structures that are made of different materials and explain why certain structures are made of specific materials.

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.