In general terms the science syllabus can be broken into several key strands. These are:
- Knowledge and Understanding
- Prescribed Focus Area (PFA's)
- Skills (Practical and Communication)
The stage 4 Science syllabus is broken into four distinct fields of study: Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space science and Physics. Students will be introduced to each of these fields over the junior years in the hope that they will go onto to choose one or more of them at the HSC level.
Topics studied in year 7 include: Nature of Matter, Cells, Earth, Sun and the Moon, Mixtures, Earth's resources, Classification and Forces.
Topics studied in year 8 include: Elements and Compounds, Rocks and Minerals, Different types of Energy, Ecosystems, Chemical changes and functioning organisms.
Specifically, students will be provided with a learning experience in which they:
- acquire scientific knowledge and skills and develop understanding about phenomena within and beyond their experience
- develop an appreciation of science as a human activity and apply their understanding to their everyday life
Course Outcomes:
STAGE 4 SKILLS
SC4-4WS:identifies questions and problems that can be tested or researched and makes predictions based on scientific knowledge
SC4-5WS: collaboratively and individually produces a plan to investigate questions and problems
SC4-6WS: follows a sequence of instructions to safelyundertake a range of investigation types,collaboratively and individually
SC4-7WS: processes and analyses data from a first-hand investigation and secondary sources toidentify trends, patterns and relationships, and draw conclusions
SC4-8WS: selects and uses appropriate strategies,understanding and skills to produce creativeand plausible solutions to identified problems
SC4-9WS: presents science ideas, findings andinformation to a given audience usingappropriate scientific language, text types and representations
STAGE 4 KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
SC4-10PW: describes the action of unbalanced forces ineveryday situations
SC4-11PW: discusses how scientific understanding and technological developments have contributed to finding solutions to problems involving energy transfers and transformations
SC4-12ES: describes the dynamic nature of models,theories and laws in developing scientificunderstanding of the Earth and solar system
SC4-13ES: explains how advances in scientificunderstanding of processes that occur withinand on the Earth, influence the choices people make about resource use and management
SC4-14LW: relates the structure and function of livingthings to their classification, survival andreproduction
SC4-15LW: explains how new biological evidence changespeople's understanding of the world
SC4-16CW: describes the observed properties andbehaviour of matter, using scientific modelsand theories about the motion andarrangement of particles
SC4-17CW: explains how scientific understanding of, anddiscoveries about the properties of elements, compounds and mixtures relate to their usesin everyday life