SfA and Science Education Standards

[See also: Math Education Standards, and Reading and Social Studies Standards.]

Statistics for Action situates opportunities for practicing science skills into a dramatic community context: One where people's health, homes, and childrens are on the line. Even if your students are not directly experiencing environmental contamination, the high stakes, drama, and politics involved may be more engaging than a typical science workbook problem.

Many SfA activities feature different versions within one activity (all building the same skill or concept, but with different data sets or environmental media). Pick the one that fits best; if only one version fulfills the education standard, it will be specified below.

SfA activities probably won't provide a complete lesson to address each standard. They can be used at the beginning of a unit to spark interest, and/or at the end of a unit as synthesis activities. Many activities combine different science practices or concepts. so some of the standards below are grouped together. Hover over the colored buttons to expand the text of the particular standard. The color code used is:

GED 2014 Science Practices Assessment Targets

Common Core State Standards Initiative

NRC Framework of Practices for K-12 Science Classrooms

If an activity is listed more than once, only the standards not yet mentioned will be listed. Jump to:

• Reading and analyzing data; making inferences and hypotheses. Analyzing and evaluating reasoning & evidence.
• Symbols, terms, and units
• Data presented in diverse ways: graphs, charts, tables, etc.
• Science Content: Earth and Space Science

 

 

Reading and analyzing data; making inferences and hypotheses. Analyzing and evaluating reasoning & evidence.

 

A First Look at Technical Documents - Participants examine individual pages from a technical document. They record their observations and questions on sticky notes, and group those notes by category. Could be used as a warm-up for exploring more complicated documents or data sets. You can use a report/data set from our sample data page, or use one from your own community.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. NRC Scientific Practice 1
1. Asking questions.
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

A First Look at Challenging Claims – Participants identify fact-based claims by industry or government, and consider the different strategies for challenging those claims using data. Strategies include distinguishing between facts and speculation, looking for ambiguous terminology, identifying inadequate sampling or non-representative data, and suggesting alternate hypotheses.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.7
Evaluating Reasoning and Evidence GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.8
Analyzing Relationships Between Sources NRC Scientific Practice 1, 5, 7 & 8
1. Asking questions.
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking.
7. Engaging in argument from evidence.
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.4
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.10
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Compare to Standards - Participants compare environmental test results to health-based standards by dividing one by the other. They generate statements like “The arsenic in sample SB-08 was 12.8 times the screening level.” Then they create a number line and arrange the results along that line.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. NRC Scientific Practices 4 & 5
4. Analyzing and interpreting data.
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Mapping Data – Used with Compare to Standards, participants put soil or water testing data from a data table onto a map, then use the map to identify trends or hot spots.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. NRC Scientific Practices 1, 4, 6, & 8
1. Asking questions.
4. Analyzing and interpreting data.
6. Constructing explanations.
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Finding Newsworthy Data – Building on Compare to Standards and Mapping Data, participants read a data set, and use a set of tips to find the most newsworthy facts in the data (usually a ratio between numbers in the data or a rate increase or decrease). Then they practice different ways of expressing those facts using direct comparison, ratios, percents, percent increase/decrease, and orders of magnitude.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. NRC Scientific Practices 1, 4, 5, & 8
1. Asking questions.
4. Analyzing and interpreting data.
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking.
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.4
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Exposed! - Participants read about four children who spend time at or near a contaminated place. They make a hypothesis about which child has the longest exposure, and test their hypothesis by calculating it.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. NRC Scientific Practices 1, 5, & 7
1. Asking questions.
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking.
7. Engaging in argument from evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Risk: Points of Contact – Participants guess about risk levels from several everyday activities that pose various levels of risk of exposure to contamination. Then they read information about that contaminant and are given a chance to change their ratings. Finally, they compare their ratings with a public health professional's.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.1a
Cite specific textual evidence to support inferences, conclusions or analyses of technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions of a process, event, phenomenon, or concept. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.2
Determining Central Ideas, Hypotheses, and Conclusions. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.3a
Determine which explanation best accords with evidence. NRC Scientific Practices 1 & 7
1. Asking questions.
7. Engaging in argument from evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

 

 

Symbols, terms, and units

Common Units – Each of these units of measurement common to environmental science (cubic meters, liters, kilograms) comes with activity suggestions to help learners understand it more intuitively. The activity also includes fact sheets on meta-units like metric prefixes, orders of magnitude, and parts per million and billion.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.4
Interpreting Meaning of Symbols and Terms GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.12
Understanding and applying the appropriate tools, techniques and units in scientific investigations. English Language Arts Standards » Science & Technical Subjects » Grade 6-8, 9-10, 11-12
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–12 texts and topics. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.4
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Converting Between Units - Participants practice converting part per million or parts per billion to either mg/kg and µg/kg (for soil) or mg/L and µg/L (for water).

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.4
Interpreting Meaning of Symbols and Terms GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.12
Understanding and applying the appropriate tools, techniques and units in scientific investigations. NRC Scientific Practice 5
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking. English Language Arts Standards » Science & Technical Subjects » Grade 6-8, 9-10, 11-12
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–12 texts and topics. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.4
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Limits & Levels: Detection Limits – A fact sheet about the limitations of laboratory equipment in detecting contaminants in soil, water, or air.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.4
Interpreting Meaning of Symbols and Terms GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.12
Understanding and applying the appropriate tools, techniques and units in scientific investigations. English Language Arts Standards » Science & Technical Subjects » Grade 6-8, 9-10, 11-12
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–12 texts and topics. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.10
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Videos: These short videos (~ 1 min) explain the units suggested by their titles.

• SP.4
  GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.4
  Interpreting Meaning of Symbols and Terms What's a Liter? Parts per Million in Water
• SP.4
  GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.4
  Interpreting Meaning of Symbols and Terms Milligrams per Kilogram: Parts per Million in Soil
• SP.4
  GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.4
  Interpreting Meaning of Symbols and Terms
  SP.12
  GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.12
  Understanding and applying the appropriate tools, techniques and units in scientific investigations. ND = Not Detected

 

 

Data presented in diverse ways: graphs, charts, tables, and other relationships.

Exposed! – See above. Teachers could also suggest participants graph the exposure through time for each child before calculating it, or put the exposure data into a table.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.5b
Determine how the value of one variable changes as the value of another variable changes in a complex data presentation. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.6
Integrating Content Presented in Diverse Ways (flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table)

Inside Averages - Participants start with an average stated in words, and six different graphic (column chart) representations of data that could have that average. They match each graph with a common questionable practice (provided) used for finding an average. The activity highlights how looking at a whole data set graphically reveals much more than just a statement of an average value. Students then approach the problem in reverse – starting with an average stated in words, and then imagining different data set that could match it, using graph paper. Instructors could follow up with students by asking about the impact of including (or not including) an outlier, or predicting future data based on trends they see in the data. You can supplement with the video Averages Can Be Political – A 1-min video describing how averages used in environmental testing might not always be the best way to present what's really going on. The example used is tests of trihalomethanes in Miami drinking water.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.5
Analyzing Structures of the relationships among concepts and key terms GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.6
Integrating Content Presented in Diverse Ways (flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table) GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.7b, SP.7c, SP.7d
SP.7b Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a stimulus support the author's clai or recommendation for solving a technical problem.
SP.7c Identify discrepant results and identify possible sources of error or uncontrolled conditions
SP.7d Evaluate whether information (data, model) supports or contradicts a hypothesis, prediction, or conclusion, and why. GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.9
Reading and interpreting graphs, charts and other data representations GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.10
Reading and interpreting graphs, charts and other data representations NRC Scientific Practices 4, 6, &
4. Analyzing and interpreting data.
6. Constructing explanations.
7. Engaging in argument from evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Finding Newsworthy Data – See above. The versions Public Health Data and Pesticides on Food present data in graphs for participants to analyze.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.5
Analyzing Structures of the relationships among concepts and key terms GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.6
Integrating Content Presented in Diverse Ways (flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table) GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.9
Reading and interpreting graphs, charts and other data representations NRC Scientific Practices 8
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating evidence.

Mapping Data – See above.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.5
Analyzing Structures of the relationships among concepts and key terms GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.6
Integrating Content Presented in Diverse Ways (flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table) GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.9
Reading and interpreting graphs, charts and other data representations

Memorable Graphs – Participants are given a numerical fact in words, along with five different ways to depict it graphically. They decide which they find most compelling and why. Then they discuss principles of making a compelling graphic depiction of data.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.6
Integrating Content Presented in Diverse Ways (flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table) GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.9a
Interpret, use, and create graphs including proper labeling. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

The Summary vs. the Lab– Reports of environmental tests often contain a list of all results written by a laboratory, and a summary of the most important results written by a government agency or other consultant. In this activity, participants practice checking to see if the summary matches the lab results, or if there are mistakes.

GED Science Practices Assessment Target SP.9a
Interpret, use, and create graphs including proper labeling. NRC Scientific Practices 4, & 8
4. Analyzing and interpreting data.
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating evidence. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

 

 

Science Content: Earth and Space Science

For all below:

GED Earth and Space Science Assessment Target ES.a.1
Interactions of matter between living and non-living things (e.g. cycles of matter) and the location, uses, and dangers of fossil fuels GED Earth and Space Science Assessment Target ES.a.3
Extraction and use of natural resources, renewable vs. non-renewable resources and sustainability. English Language Arts Standards » College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Pieces of the Risk Puzzle – A fact sheet with a summary of factors that contribute to health risks from environmental contamination (including proximity to power plants or highways where fossil fuels are burned.) Depending on interest, there are activities on some of the different “pieces”:

• As Toxic As…?– Toxicity of contaminants
• Exposed! – Exposure time (see SP.1-3 above)
• Risk: Points of Contact– Exposure type (see SP.1-3 above)

A First Look at Health Studies – The North Shore, MA story in the Health Study Stories (p.7) describes two different health studies done near a large coal-fired power plant.

Limits and Levels: NAAQS – A fact sheet on the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards, all of which relate to the burning of fossil fuels.

The Change Agent – The following articles in the adult education magazine The Change Agent discuss health hazards from fossil fuels.

• Oil in Gulf: Bad. Oil in Landfill: Not Bad?
• Coal Mining in Sebastian County
• Please Turn Off Your Engines
• We Could Decrease Diesel Pollution