


Standards package.Įnglish Language Development ELD Standards Special Notes Section: For guidance on the implementation of the EEs and MTRs, please visit and select the appropriate B.E.S.T. Florida educators should intentionally embed these standards within the content and their instruction as applicable. ELA Expectations (EE) and Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) for students. if this course is offered to seventh grade students, then the SC.7.N benchmarks should be integrated into the course content, and SC.6.N and SC.8.N benchmarks should be omitted from the seventh grade course).įlorida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards Use grade appropriate Nature of Science and mathematics content benchmarks (i.e. ISTE Standards ( ) should be incorporated in many contexts throughout the course. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking.Planning and carrying out investigations.Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).Science and Engineering Practices (NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, 2010) Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.Emphasizing text-specific complex questions, and cognitively complex tasks, reinforce focus on the text and cultivate independence.Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.Ensuring wide reading from complex text that varies in length.Teaching from a range of complex text is optimized when teachers in all subject areas implement the following strategies on a routine basis: Learners should understand measurement error and have the skills to aggregate, interpret, and present the resulting data (NRC 2006, p. Laboratory investigations in the middle school classroom should help all students develop a growing understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, as well as the skills to calibrate and troubleshoot equipment used to make observations. School laboratory investigations are defined by the National Research Council (NRC) as an experience in the laboratory, classroom, or the field that provides students with opportunities to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by others using tools, materials, data collection techniques, and models (NRC, 2006, p. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recommends that at the middle school level, all students should have multiple opportunities every week to explore science laboratory investigations (labs). Laboratory investigations that include the use of scientific inquiry, research, measurement, problem solving, laboratory apparatus and technologies, experimental procedures, and safety procedures are an integral part of this course. Environmental sciences through applications such as ecosystem management, human-environmental impact, ecology and agriculture, land and resource management, and civil and environmental engineering, are emphasized in this course. M/J STEM Environmental Science includes an integration of standards from science, mathematics, and english language arts (ELA) through the application to STEM problem solving using environmental sciences knowledge and science and engineering practices.

This course is an integrated Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) course for middle school students.
