Dominican College
Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9

JC - Science

Rationale:

Science is a collaborative and creative human endeavour arising from our desire to understand the world around us and the wider universe. Learning science through inquiry enables students to ask more questions, and to develop and evaluate explanations of events and phenomena they encounter.

The study of science enables students to build on their learning in primary school and to further develop their knowledge of and about science. Students enhance their scientific literacy by developing their ability to explain phenomena scientifically; their understanding of scientific inquiry; and their ability to interpret and analyse scientific evidence and data to draw appropriate conclusions.

Click here for an information booklet on JC Science

Aim:

Science in junior cycle aims to develop students’ evidence-based understanding of the natural world and their ability to gather and evaluate evidence: to consolidate and deepen their skills of working scientifically; to make them more self-aware as learners and become competent and confident in their ability to use and apply science in their everyday lives.

More specifically it encourages all students:

  • to develop a sense of enjoyment in the learning of science, leading to a lifelong interest in science
  • to develop scientific literacy and apply this to the analysis of science issues relevant to society, the environment and sustainability
  • to develop a scientific habit of mind and inquiry orientation through class, laboratory and/ or off-site activities that foster investigation, imagination, curiosity and creativity in solving engaging, relevant problems, and to improve their reasoning and decision-making abilities
  • to develop the key skills of junior cycle to find, use, manage, synthesise, and evaluate data; to communicate scientific understanding and findings using a variety of media; and to justify ideas on the basis of evidence
  • to acquire a body of scientific knowledge; to develop an understanding of Earth and space and their place in the physical, biological, and chemical world and to help establish a foundation for more advanced learning.

Junior Cycle Science:

Features of this specification include learning outcomes across the unifying strand, Nature of science, and the four contextual strands: Physical world, Chemical world, Biological world and Earth and space. There is a new focus given to the Nature of science which aims to promote greater engagement and thinking about how science works; carrying out investigations, communicating in science, and the role and contribution of science and scientists to society. There are also new assessments which offers students a chance to demonstrate their achievement as creators of scientific research reports. Teachers, students and parents will be able to check progress by logging in to examples of student work where they will see the range of annotated examples of work that students in junior cycle Science create and see the learning outcomes in action.

The Assessment guidelines have been revised to take account of feedback from teachers working with authentic samples of student work.

JCScience.jpg

Note:
There is a shortage of people in Ireland with training in Science and Technology to meet our current needs. It is also important to remember that a Science subject is required at Leaving Cert level for some third level courses, e.g. Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, Food Science etc.

Students' Corner:

Jeonah Roperoz (1.1) recently suggested the following to remember the characteristics of life:

Real Elephants Noses Grow Really Really Massive

Respiration. Excretion. Nutrition.Growth. Reproduction.Responsivity.Movement

Useful websites:

Department of Education and Science sites:

URL:

Department of Education and Science

https://www.jct.ie/science/key_documents

Department of Education and Science

https://www.curriculumonline.ie/Junior-cycle/Junior-Cycle-Subjects/Science

Department of Education and Science

http://www.education.ie

State Examinations Commission

http://www.examinations.ie

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

http://www.ncca.ie

Scoilnet, the NCTE schools website

http://www.scoilnet.ie

Teacher Support Network sites:

URL:

Second Level Support Service - Physics and Chemistry

http://www.slss.ie/

Biology Support Service

http://biology.slss.ie

Chemistry Support Service

http://chemistry.slss.ie/

Physics Support Service

http://physics.slss.ie/

Irish Science Teachers' Association - membership is open to all teachers of science

http://www.ista.ie/

The Association for Science Education (UK) - membership is open to all teachers of science

http://www.ase.org.uk.ie/

National Science Teachers Assocation (USA) - membership is open to all teachers of science

http://www.nsta.org/

Resource sites:

URL:

Concept Cartoons offer excellent starting points for discussion and thinking

http://www.conceptcartoons.com/index_flash.html

Science Enhancement Programme - focuses on scientific enquiry and practical work, scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding, scientific research and developments

http://www.sep.org.uk/

Drawing tool for both teachers and pupils

http://www.ase.org.uk/sen/words/diagram.htm

Puzzle makers

http://www.puzzlemaker.com

Crossword construction kit

http://www.crosswordkit.com/

Wordsearch construction kit

http://www.wordsearchkit.com/download.htm

Hot Potatoes software - construct crosswords, wordsearches, cloze test, matching exercises

http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/

Chemical Jigsaw Puzzle

http://www.harmsy.freeuk.com/jigsaw.html

PhET - Physics Education Technology, interactive physics animations from the Unversity of Colorado

http://phet.colorado.edu/web-pages/index.html

Freezeray Interactive Science Resources

http://www.freezeray.com/home.htm

Biology Corner

www.biologycorner.com

BBC Schools site - human body interactive games

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/

Science photograph library - teachers can register, then download and use the images, as long as credit for source is given

http://www.sciencephoto.com

Science Smarties - a variety of assessments for each topic of the Junior Cert. syllabus, from a TeachNet Ireland site

http://www.teachnet.ie/mamond/2006

Science, Technology and Society sites

URL:

Ingenious Ireland

http://www.ingeniousirelandonline.ie

The science behind the news

http://whyfiles.org/

Science and technology in action

www.sciencetechnologyaction.com

Science trail at the science centre, Birr castle

www.birrcastle.com

General Interest sites:

URL:

Skoool.ie has a section on science

http://skoool.ie

How Stuff Works

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Natural History Museum of Ireland

http://www.museum.ie/naturalhistory/

Explore materials science

http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/

NASA Astrobiology Institute

http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/students/index.cfm

Schoolscience

http://www.schoolscience.co.uk

Exploratorium - interactive with many DIY experiments

http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Timeline for events in science and mathematics

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/science/sciehist.html

European Space Agency Human Spaceflight - teachers can request a free copy of the Education Kit aimed at students aged 12-15

http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/SEMT0IXLDMD_education_0.html

First Years Attachments:

Energy Powerpoint - posters

Saoirse Ní Chuilleagáin's poster

Mock Powerpoints and Pdfs for Revision Purposes

Biology Definitions

Physics Definitions

Chemistry Definitions

Biology Revision Notes

Physics Revision Notes

Chemistry Revision Notes

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