Page 15 - Science - Grade 9, DE-STREAMED COURSE (SNC1W)

In the Grade 9 science course, the overall expectations outline the fundamental concepts and skills that are required for students to become scientifically literate global citizens. The curriculum focuses on connecting, developing, reinforcing, and refining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students acquire as they work towards meeting the overall expectations in the course. This approach reflects and accommodates the progressive nature of development of knowledge, concepts, and skills in science learning. In the course, the two overall expectations in each strand are developed in related sets of specific expectations.
Teacher Supports
Specific expectations are accompanied by supports such as examples and/or instructional tips.2 The examples are meant to clarify the requirement specified in the expectation, illustrating the kind of skill or knowledge, the specific area of learning, the depth of learning, and/or the level of complexity that the expectation entails. The instructional tips suggest instructional strategies and authentic contexts for the effective modelling, practice, and application of scientific concepts. The examples and instructional tips are optional supports that teachers can draw on to support teaching and learning, in addition to developing their own supports that reflect a similar level of complexity. Whatever the specific ways in which the requirements outlined in the expectations are implemented in the classroom, they must be inclusive and, wherever possible, reflect the diversity of the student population and the population of the province.
Fundamental Concepts and “Big Ideas” in Science
This course provides numerous opportunities for students to develop essential STEM skills and make important connections that will allow them to deepen their understanding of the fundamental concepts and big ideas of science. The fundamental concepts in science provide a framework for the development of scientific knowledge. They also help students to integrate scientific knowledge with knowledge in other subject areas, such as technological education, mathematics, geography, and the arts. The fundamental concepts that are addressed in the Ontario science curriculum are matter, energy, systems and interactions, structure and function, sustainability and stewardship, and change and continuity. These fundamental concepts are described in the following chart.
2 The teacher supports will be made available at a later date, after the issuing of the curriculum expectations and the curriculum context.
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