Outcome Chart - Prince Edward Island - Science 10: SCI421A

Overall Expectations: NoS1

Students will be expected to:

Specific Expectations:

1. Discuss the importance of the principles and values that guide the development of scientific knowledge, such as:

Overall Expectations: NoS 2

Students will be expected to:

Specific Expectations:

use the following vocabulary appropriately: argument, bias, claim, evidence, falsify, pseudoscience, scientific reasoning, skeptical, bias, causal illusion, confirmation bias, correlation, cause and effect;
demonstrate skeptical and critical thinking when presented with a claim supposedly based on science;
evaluate claims based on criteria including reliability of publishing medium, credibility of the source, absence of bias, and vocabulary used (non-scientific: flamboyant, exaggerative, vague, colloquial, subjective, or emotive; or overstated: scientific, fact, proves, truth);
infer if the argument supporting the claim is non-scientific due to the evidence being in the form of testimonials, opinion, personal experience, miraculous claims, conspiracy theories, or results that cannot be repeated by others; and
determine if the argument supporting the claim is based on scientific principles and reasoning such as
- it is based on testing and data that has been verified by others,
- is a valid interpretation of the data,
- is supported by multiple lines of evidence,
- describes the experimental controls if appropriate,
- considers weakness in the argument such as possible confounding variables,
- is reasonable in consideration of well-established scientific “facts”,
- is logical,
- is able to be falsified;
distinguish between examples of correlational and causal relationships; and
conclude, with justification, if a reported idea or claim is scientifically reasonable.

Students will be expected to:

Analyze factors that influence decisions to accept scientifically unreasonable claims.

Specific Expectations:

recognize how perspectives are influenced by a variety of factors (e.g., age, gender, culture, socio-economics, values, beliefs, peer pressure, geographical region);
examine how factors (e.g., causal illusion, confirmation bias, correlation, risk perception, social media, lack of trust) can influence an individuals’ decision regarding, for example, vaccinations, life style, food choices, alternative medical treatments;
analyze societal trends related to the acceptance of pseudoscience explanations;
identify and describe possible consequences that may result from decisions based on misinformation; and
recognize that flexible and open-mind sets are required to change an opinion when new high-quality evidence becomes available.

Students will be expected to:
synthesize information from reliable sources to extend understanding of scientific concepts.

Specific Expectations:

explain the purpose for their reading;
select reliable sources of scientific information;
discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information;
answer questions regarding text that are literal, inferential, and evaluative in nature; and
integrate information from multiple reliable sources (print and electronic) to extend their knowledge about scientific phenomena.

Students will be expected to:

argue for or against the application of a scientific or technological development while demonstrating respect for the perspectives of others.

Specific Expectations:

a use the following vocabulary appropriately: benefit, ethics, perspective, risk;
recognize how perspectives are influenced by a variety of factors (e.g., age, gender, culture, socio-economics, values, beliefs, peer pressure, geographical region);
recognize that multiple perspectives can be correct;
demonstrate respect for the opinion, values, and ideas of others;