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Key

wor
ds:

SCI
ENCE,STATE,NATURE,BIOLOGY,RECOMMENDATI
ON,
NGSS,
sci
encet
eachi
ng,
GENERATI
ON,Biol
ogyTeacher,sci
encecont
ent

ABSTRACTThenat ureofsci
ence(NOS)isanof t
enneglectedpartofsci
enceteachi
ng,y
eti
t
providesavi
tal
backgroundforst
udents,
detai
l
inghowsci enceandscient
ist
swor kandhow
scienti
fi
cknowl
edgeiscreat
ed,val
idat
ed,andinf
luenced.

KeyWor ds:
Nat
ureofsci
ence;
sci
encet
eachi
ng;
phi
l
osophyofbi
ology
;NextGener
ati
onSci
ence
Standar
ds.

Introduct ionThi sissueofTheAmer icanBi ol ogyTeacherf eat uresar ti


clesr elat edt ot henat ure
ofsci ence( NOS) .Thi st opic, ofendur i
ngi nt erestwi thint hesci enceeducat i
oncommuni t yf or
mor et hanacent ury, hasbeengi v enasi gni ficantboostbyi tsspeci fi
canddet ai ledi ncl usi oni n
theNextGener ati
onSci enceSt andar ds( NGSS) ,thenewsetofr ecommendat i
onsf orsci ence
teachi ngi ntheUni tedSt ates.Formor ethan100y ear s,st artingwi thr ecommendat ionsf rom t he
Cent ral Associ at i
onofSci enceandMat hemat icsTeacher s( 1907)andcont inui ngt ot hepr esent
(Leder man, 1992, 2007; Mat thews, 1994, 2014; McComas, 1998, 2004) ,ther ehasbeen
i
ncr easi ngagr eementt hatst udent sandt eacher sal ikemustunder standbot ht het radi tional
sciencecont entandt he" r
ulesoft hegame"i mpl iedbyt hephr ase" nat ureofsci ence. "Yetwe
hav emadesur pr i
singl ylittl
epr ogr essconv i
nci ngt eacher sandt extbookswr iter soft he
i
mpor tanceoft hiskeyl ear ninggoal .Challengest oI ncl usi onofNOSi nt heCl assr oom The
i
ncl usi onofNOSi nsci encet eachi nghasnotbeenwi t
houti tsi ssues, i
ncl udingdi scussi onsof
NOSadv ocacyi nsci encet eachi ng, whatv er sionofNOSshoul dbet hef ocusofsci ence
i
nst ruct ion, distinctionsi nNOSbet weenonesci encedi scipl i
neandanot her, andNOS
i
nst ruct ional model s.Adv ocat i
ngf ort heIncl usionofNOSi nSci enceTeachi ngOneoft hemost
i
mpor tanti mpedi ment st ot hei ncl usi onofNOSt opi csi nsci encet eachi nghasbeent her ather
mut edr ecommendat i
onsr egar di ngNOSi nsci encecur ri
cul um document s.Somest at eshada
robustsect i
ononNOSi nst ruct ionandi ncl udedal loft hespeci fi
cel ement sof tensuggest edby
Thisi ssueofTheAmer icanBi ologyTeacherf eaturesar ti
clesr elatedt ot henat ur eofsci ence
(NOS) .TheAmer i
canBi ol ogyTeacher ,Vol .THEAMERI CANBI OLOGYTEACHERTHENATURE
OFSCI ENCE485FEATUREARTI CLETheNat ureofSci ence& theNextGener ationof
BiologyEducat i
on: WI LLI AM F.MCCOMASsci enceeducat or s, wher easot herst at esbar ely
ment ionedt het opic.Wi thwi despr eadadopt i
onoft her ecommendat i
onspr ov idedi nasi ngl e
scienceeducat ionpol i
cydocument , mostst udent si ntheUni tedSt ateswi l
l beexpect edt ol earn
thesamesci encecont ent .Onf irsti nspect ion, theNGSSof fert hr eemaj orr ecommendat ionst o
guidesci encet eachi ng.WhatNat ur eofSci enceShoul dWeTeach? .Theposi tioni snotr elev ant
becausewear enott ryingt oeducat ethenextgener ationofphi l
osopher sofsci ence, andnot
helpf ul becausesheof fer snoal ter nativeandseemst her ef oret or ecommendt hatwecont inue
teachi ngsci encewi thoutar efer encet oi t
snat ure.Inaddi ti
on, onewonder swhataspect sof
traditional sciencecont entwoul dsur vivescr utinyifweev aluat edal lsuchcont entt hr oughv an
Dijk'sl ens.

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