Elementary Science Standards in Adventist Schools

Standards, what learners should know (content) and be able to do (skills), serve as the framework for curriculum development. Standards in NAD Seventh-day Adventist schools reflect the Adventist worldview across the K-12 curricula as well as the integration of national and provincial/state standards. The Adventist worldview accepts the Bible as the standard by which everything else is measured. Four key concepts emerge from a biblical worldview that can be used as a lens for curriculum development, as well as informing the essential questions and big ideas of any content area: Creation (What is God’s intention?), Fall (How has God’s purpose been distorted?), Redemption (How does God help us to respond?), and Re-creation (How can we be restored in the image of God?).

— The Core of Adventist Education Curriculum

Science and Engineering Practices

• Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
• Developing and using models
• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Using mathematics and computational thinking
• Constructing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering)
• Engaging in argument from evidence
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

— The Core of Adventist Education Curriculum

Performance-based Standards

The science standards are performance-based outcomes (what students should be able to do) rather than content-based outcomes (what students should know). The content standards are implied within the context of the performance standards.