Presentation made several years ago about the nature and needs of adolescence and how these ideas should influence the nature of science curriculum and science learning activities.

1. Adolescence and Middle School
Science

3. DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS
• Positive social interaction with
adults and peers
• Structure and clear limits
• Physical activity
• Creative expression
• Competence and achievement
• Meaningful participation in
families, school and
communities
• Opportunities for self-definition

4. Common Knowledge
• “Storm & Stress
• “Upheaval & Trauma”
• Only thing normal is
“abnormality”

5. Period of Adolescence
• Vulnerable
• Serious Need of help

6. Adolescence & Puberty
• Negotiate meaning of
biological changes
• Awareness of opposite
sex
• Sexual experience
• Decisions about
contraceptives

7. Maturation
• Disadvantage for Late
maturing boys---self-
esteem, popularity &
“macho” behavior
• Early maturing girls--
small network and
poorer emotional
habits

8. Identity: Who Am I?
• Urban middle school
kids who drop out say:
• “They don’t tell you
anything about
yourself.”
• “They don’t tell you
about other kids”

9. Maladaptive Decisions
• 2/3 of the (19 million) have tried alcohol
• 1/3 tried illicit drugs
• % with AIDS has increased
• Recent study of 8th graders
– 26.2% used alcohol
– 15% engaged in binge drinking
– 11.3% used marijuana
– 5.8% used inhalants
– 1.3% used cocaine

10. Teen Health
• Not about disease, but
preventable social,
environmental &
behavioral factors…
such as
• Accidents
• Homicide
• Suicide
• Early pregnancy

11. Teen Sexual Behavior
• “Reproductive
maturation most
distinctive feature of
transescence”
• Traditionally…
suppress, ignore or
weakly influence
sexual behavior of
teens
• 560,000 teen births/yr

12. Peer Groups & Gangs
• Passionate herding
instinct?
• Little evidence that
peer pressures
overpower values of
parents
• Try out various
identities

13. Friends
• Someone loyal and
“doesn’t talk about you
behind your back”
• Enjoy activities with
friends more than any
other activity
• Few or no friends:
aggressive, drop out,
criminal behavior

14. Everyday in America
• Three died from abuse
• Six committed suicide
• 16 killed with guns
• 316 arrested for
violent crimes
• 406 arrested for drugs
• 466 babies born with
little prenatal care

15. Everyday in America
• 1,420 babies born to
teenagers
• 2,556 babies born into
poverty
• 3,533 to unwed mothers
• 3,356 dropped out
• 5,702 arrested
• 13,076 suspended
• 100,000 remain homeless
Number of births to teens ages 15-19 per 1,000 females in this age group

16. Which Means
• We need a middle
school with special
curricula
• Close the gaps
between early
adolescents & their
well being

17. Middle (Junior High) Schools
• Berkeley & Columbus
(Ohio) created 7-8-9
schools in 1907
• Functions of JHS
– Integration
– Exploration
– Guidance
– Differentiation
– Socialization

18. Effective School for Early Adolescents
• Vision was not being
met
• Lack of qualified
teachers
• Curriculum did not
match “needs of early
adolescents

19. Ideal “middle” School (1965)
• Focus on needs of early adolescents
• Individualized instruction
• Stress on intellectual components
• Emphasis on inquiry, discovery, learning
how to learn
• Exploratory experiences
• Health and PE

20. Middle vs Junior Highs
• Research revealed
they were more alike
than different
• Few data to support
advocates or critics
• Yet, middle schools
flourished from the
mid-seventies on

21. Middle School Science
• Starting in the late 60s
• Reformers: Scientists
• Content
– Structure of discipline
– A Way of knowing
• Science Activities as
motivation (Bruner)
• Goals directly linked
to science discipline
• EXAMPLES
– Introductory Physical
Science (IPS)
– Earth Science
Curriculum Project (
– Intermediate Science
Curriculum Study
(ISCS)

22. Middle School Science: Real Curriculum
• General Science
replaced with ES, LS,
& PS
• Grade 6--PS
• Grade 7--LS
• Grade 8--ES

23. Real Science

24. “Should Be” Curriculum
• Structured more in
terms of student
interests
• Social concerns
• Human agenda
• Human ecology

25. But, the MS Science Curriculum
• Based on academic
preparation
• Ignores use of science in
everyday life, societal
decision making, career
choice
• “Turns off” 2/3 of our
students
• Teachers uncertain how to
change curriculum

26. Science for the People
• Select those concepts and
principles of science
relevant to students’ daily
life and adaptive needs
• Not to prepare scientists
• Science must be put into
service for individuals and
society

27. A New Vision for MS Science
• Connects students
with today’s world
• Development of life
skills
• Increasing the quality
of life

28. What good is all this to me?

29. From the Traditional to the “Lived”
• TRADITIONAL
• Textbooks
• Principles
• Generalizations
• Theories
• Methods
• Specific science areas
• LIVED CURRICULUM
• Foster links between
the lives of early
adolescents and their
quality of life
• Personally oriented
• Interdisciplinary
• Makes sense of
science, re: everyday
life

30. Life Science Curriculum Topics
• Getting to know
ourselves: What kind of a
creature are we?
• People have a long history
on Earth
• Human life cycle
• How we learn about
people & the world
• Learning & remembering
• Language &
Communication
• Knowing & deciding
• Nutrition
• Health, Hygiene &
Safety
• Human beings as
social animals

31. Core Themes for MS Science
• Health and Wellness
• Stablilizing the Global
Environment
• New Energy
Resources
• Quality of Life
• Quality of Work
New Curriculum focus upon utilization of science/technology
knowledge as it enhances adaptive needs of students

32. Some Examples
• Green Classroom
• Project Ozone
• Project Water Watch

33. Adolescents and Science Learning:
A Subject Sampler