Our Purpose

Science is both a body of knowledge that represents current understanding of natural systems and the process whereby that body of knowledge has been established and is being continually extended, refined, and revised. Both elements are essential: one cannot make progress in science without an understanding of both.

Science
The Science Department supports the teaching and learning of science by
  • providing staff development to teachers
  • providing assistance in the analysis of test data
  • providing instructional resources and materials
  • disseminating information about current legislation and research in science
  • assisting with the science benchmark assessment program
 
Science in the classroom

Why Teach Science?

In the modern world, some knowledge of science is essential for everyone. It is the opinion of this department that science should be as nonnegotiable a part of basic education as are language arts and mathematics. It is important to teach science because of the following:

  1. Science is a significant part of human culture and represents one of the pinnacles of human thinking capacity.
  2. It provides a laboratory of common experience for development of language, logic, and problem-solving skills in the classroom.
  3. A democracy demands that its citizens make personal and community decisions about issues in which scientific information plays a fundamental role, and they hence need a knowledge of science as well as an understanding of scientific methodology.
  4. For some students, it will become a lifelong vocation or avocation.
  5. The nation is dependent on the technical and scientific abilities of its citizens for its economic competitiveness and national needs.