4.8 Unified, Integrated Programs

The traditional approach, as we have seen, to the organization of the middle school science curriculum is a plan of separate courses of Earth, life and physical science. An alternative approach is to develop a two or three-year curriculum sequence around a unifying theme or set of conceptual themes.

PRIS2M. The City School District of Rochester, New York has developed an integrated K-12 science program called R.I.S.E. (Rochester Integrated Science Education). The elementary program consists of a K-6 general education program that integrates a textbook program with a hands-on activities, writing, and language arts experiences. PRIS2M (Program for Rochester to Interest Students in Science and Math), is a two year integrated sequence integrating science and math, and is followed at the high school level by the U.S.E.-Rochester program (Unified Science Education). The entire Rochester program is based on four underlying beliefs:

• Science is a way of learning about the world.
• Science knowledge can be generated through the application of process skills.
• Students learn science best by actively "doing" science.
• Grade level placement of activities should be consistent with recent research regarding developmental levels of learning.

According to Benjamin Richardson and his colleagues, PRIS2M came about as a challenge to increase the number of minority students who would be able to pursue careers in engineering. With the cooperation of the Xerox Corporation and the school system, the goal of PRIS2M was to create an exciting, meaningful and relevant science and math experience as an alternative to the traditional, and often theoretical junior high science program.

PRIS2M consists of nine units of instruction for grades 7 and 8. The units, rather than focusing on the traditional disciplines, focus instead on the nature of science, scientific concepts, processes, problems and phenomena, issues and careers in science, and the interrelationships between science, technology and society.

The program assumes that most students will be operating at the concrete operational level, and therefore the curriculum is highly manipulative, materials-intensive. The focus is on the development of basic and integrated science process skills, as well as problem solving. Some of the curriculum highlights of PRIS2M include:

• Students are encouraged to make choices of what they learn; the curriculum provides alternative activities for students.
• Each student carries out a long term science project each year, thereby helping the students understand the nature of science.
• Improving student attitudes toward science and math by involving them in activities that are of interest to middle/junior high students.

GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science). The Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley has produced a series of curriculum units based on successful programs conducted at the Hall. GEMS is packaged as a series of teacher's guides which detail the lessons for each unit.

Each unit focuses on a main topic, such as Paper Towel Testing, and then develop skills and themes around the topic. For example in the Paper Towel Testing project, students are involved in designing controlled experiments, measuring, recording, calculating and interpreting data, while as the same time finding out about consumer science, absorbancy, wet strength, unit pricing, cost-benefit analysis, and decision making.

Some of the units in the GEMS program include:

• Paper Towel Testing
• Chemical Reactions
• Discovering Density
• Animals in Action
• The Moons of Jupiter
• Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect
• Quadice (A mathematical game that encourages students to think and talk about mathematical relationships.)

Each of the GEMS units uses unique materials and activities to involve students in discovery activities. For example, in the Chemical Reactions unit, students observe chemical changes (bubbles, changes in color and heat) in a ziplock bag. Students observe changes and design experiments to explain their observations.

The GEMS units are excellent models for units that can be infused into the ongoing science curriculum.

Science and Technology: Investigating Human Dimensions. This three-year program, developed by BSCS, is a project for middle school students that will integrate science and technology. The program is an extension of the K-6 Science, Technology and Health program (discussed earlier in the chapter). According to the developers, the program will be used in grades 5 -9. Here are some of the program characteristics:

• a focus on the development of the early adolescent.
• strategies to encourage the participation of female, minority and handicapped students.
• an emphasis on reasoning and critical thinking.
• cooperative learning as a key instructional strategy.
• an instructional model that enhances student learning.
• a conceptual approach to science and technology fields
• inclusion of science-technology-society themes.

Information about this program can be obtained from:

Insights: An Inquiry Based Middle School Science Program. This NSF funded middle school science program targets the problems and needs of preadolescent urban students. Seventh and eighth grade program modules integrate scientific concepts and understandings from the physical, human and health, life, and earth sciences within the science, society, and technology framework.

Information about the program can be obtained from: