Essential Learnings in the Middle Phase

Learning and assessment 

My interpretation of the learning and assessment focus for Year 9 Science:

• work like a scientist 
• being able to work both individually and collaboratively 
• build their understanding through topics that have real world applications 
• identify problems and issues
• design and conduct scientific investigations
• reflect on their learning
• consider and respond to how humans have influenced/changed the applications/uses of science

Science is knowledge that has been developed through human observation and inferences.

Scientific knowledge is continually changing, growing and being updated as new evidence is found.

Scientific knowledge is used to make responsible and informed decisions about the world.

Science is continually evolving and has distinct fields that overlap.

Ways of working links to Bloom's

WoW	Bloom’s	HoT	Activities
link	match	Knowledge
select	identify	Comprehension	Draw food web for ecosystem
identify	Identify	Comprehension
explain	explain	Comprehension
summarise	restate	Comprehension
apply	apply	Application	Make a model of the ecosystem, explain interactions within the ecosystem
carry out	employ	Application
use	use	Application
conduct	operate	Application
research	examine	Analysis	Prepare a report about the area
analyse	analyse	Analysis
formulate	formulate	Synthesis	Create a management plan for the ecosystem, write a poem or song about the ecosystem, make a documentary about the ecosystem
design	design	Synthesis
plan	plan	Synthesis
construct	construct	Synthesis
manage	manage	Synthesis
respond	compose	Synthesis
communicate	compose	Synthesis
reflect	evaluate	Evaluation	Write a persuasive speech, list criteria to judge importance of ecosystem
evaluate	evaluate	Evaluation
draw conclusions	evaluate	Evaluation
justify	judge	Evaluation

Knowledge and Understanding
For Assignment 1 and 2 I will be focusing on:
Science as a human endeavour

• Immediate and long-term consequences of human activity can be predicted by considering past and present events (Cause and effect, case histories)
• Responsible, ethical and informed decisions about social priorities often require the application of scientific understanding (Four justifications: Utilitarian, ecological, moral, aesthetic)
• People from different cultures contribute to and shape the development of science (Indigenous perspectives)

Energy and change

• Energy is conserved when it is transferred or transformed (Food webs, food chains, energy through the biosphere)

Life and living

• In ecosystems, organisms interact with each other and their surroundings (habitats, food webs, species interactions, keystone species)
• Changes in ecosystems have causes and consequences that may be predicted (pollution, degradation of soil)