
Nature of Science
Levels 3 and 4
Sub-strands
The Nature of Science strand is the overarching, unifying strand. Through it, students learn what science is and how scientists work. They develop the skills, attitudes, and values to build a foundation for understanding the world. They come to appreciate that while scientific knowledge is durable, it is also constantly re-evaluated in the light of new evidence. They learn how scientists carry out investigations, and they come to see science as a socially valuable knowledge system. They learn how science ideas are communicated and to make links between scientific knowledge and everyday decisions and actions. These outcomes are pursued through the following major contexts in which scientific knowledge has developed and continues to develop.
Investigating in Science
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NOS3/4-3: Build on prior experiences, working together to share and examine their own and others’ knowledge.
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NOS3/4-4: Ask questions, find evidence, explore simple models, and carry out appropriate investigations to develop simple explanations.

Understanding in Science
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NOS3/4-1: Appreciate that science is a way of explaining the world and that science knowledge changes over time.
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NOS3/4-2: Identify ways in which scientists work together and provide evidence to support their ideas.

Communicating in science
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NOS3/4-5: Begin to use a range of scientific symbols, conventions, and vocabulary.
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NOS3/4-6: Engage with a range of science texts and begin to question the purposes for which these texts are constructed.

Participating and contributing
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NOS3/4-7: Use their growing science knowledge when considering issues of concern to them.
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NOS3/4-8: Explore various aspects of an issue and make decisions about possible actions.
