Mission Statement:  "All students of USD 498 should have the opportunity to attain high levels of scientific literacy"

K-12 Objectives & Skills

• Stimulate the natural curiosity of the student in the area of science

• Develop scientific skills through
  Observing
  Classifying
  Ordering
  Keeping Data
  Measuring
  Communicating
  Inferring
  Predicting
  Analyzing
  Hypothesizing
  Experimenting
  Interpreting Data
• Create an awareness of the total environment and how the environment affects the student
• Provide basic concepts in science
• Provide hands on experiences in working with materials
• Implement practical application

KSDE Science Standards

Standards are general statements of what students should know, understand, and be able to do in the natural sciences over the course of their K-12 education.

1. Science as Inquiry
2. Physics and Chemistry
3. Life Science
4. Earth and Space Science
5. Science and Technology
6. Science and Personal and Environmental Perspectives
7. History and Nature of Science

Benchmarks are specific statements of what students should know and be able to do at a specified point in their schooling.  Benchmarks occur at grades 2,4,8, and 12.

Indicators are statements of the knowledge or skills which students demonstrate in order to meet a benchmark.

Indicators included on the Kansas State Science Assessment for each grade:

• http://www.ksde.org/outcomes/scienceitemspec.pdf

The Kansas Science Education Standards adopted 11/8/2005 and 2/14/2006 can be viewed at the address below.

http://www.ksde.org/outcomes/sciencestd.pdf

KSDE Overview of Science Testing

http://www.ksde.org/outcomes/sciassessmentfactsheetjan06.pdf