Page 19 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: Science, 2008 (revised)

STRANDS IN THE GRADE 9 AND 10 SCIENCE CURRICULUM
The expectations in all Grade 9 and 10 courses are organized in five strands, the first focusing on scientific investigation skills and the remaining four representing the major content areas in the science curriculum. The five strands are as follows:
A. Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration B. Biology
C. Chemistry
D. Earth and Space Science
E. Physics
Strand A: Scientific Investigation Skills
The first strand outlines required learning related to scientific investigation skills (SIS). The expectations in this strand describe the skills that are considered to be essential for all types of scientific investigation (see page 19). These skills apply to all areas of course content and must be developed in conjunction with learning in all four content strands of the course. (Scientific investigation skills were also a focus of the elementary science and technology curriculum, but they were embedded in expectations within the content strands.)
The scientific investigation skills are organized under subheadings related to the four broad areas of investigation – initiating and planning; performing and recording; analysing and interpreting; and communicating. To highlight the connection between skills in these broad areas of investigation and the expectations in the other four strands of a course, abbreviations in square brackets are given after each specific expectation in the first two groups of specifics in every strand (under the headings “Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment” and “Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication”). These abbreviations link a specific expectation to the applicable area(s) of investigation skills. For example, “[IP]” indicates that, with achievement of the specific expectation, a student will have developed skills relating to initiating and planning. Teachers should ensure that students develop the scientific investigation skills in appropriate ways as they work to achieve the curriculum expectations in the content strands. Students’ mastery of these skills must be assessed and evaluated as part of students’ achievement of the overall expectations for the course.
Strands B through E: Topics in Science
Strands B through E in the Grade 9 and 10 courses cover the four major scientific sub- disciplines – biology, chemistry, earth and space science, and physics. They are designed to build on the required knowledge and skills of the elementary science and technology curriculum, especially the curriculum for Grades 6, 7, and 8, while at the same time expanding and deepening students’ understanding of the fundamental concepts. The chart on page 18 provides an outline of the topics in science in Grades 9 and 10, and also shows their broad connections to the science and technology curriculum for Grades 6 to 8.
THE PROGRAM IN SCIENCE
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