Contrast the rationale, aims and objectives in the Biology Stage 6 Syllabus to the current Stage 4/5 Syllabus.
8.5 Evolution to Australian Biota:
The rationale, aims and objectives are different from stage 4/5 and stage 6 syllabus because the stage 6 syllabus is specific to biology and aims at fostering and developing the knowledge and skills learnt from science stage 4/5. Example aims from stage 4/5 is about acquiring and developing knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to science, whereas aims from stage 6 is acquire, progress and develop knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to biology.
8.5 Evolution to Australian Biota, stage 6 syllabus looks at bringing all the acquired knowledge and skills from stage 4/5 (5.8.1b, 5.8.3a, b and 5.9.2a) and further developing and progressing knowledge of data and skills learnt to increase the student's understanding of specific skills and knowledge acquired from stage 4/5 to bringing all the information into one and understanding the individual concepts into one big picture (context). Examples are in stage 5, students are to discuss evidence that suggests crustal plates move over time, whereas in stage 6 students are to provide evidence for the rearrangement of crustal plates and continental drift indicates that Australia was once part of an ancient super continent whih include solving problems, identifying and describing concepts and contents and etc.
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/biology-st6-syl-from2010.pdf
As you pointed out, the continuum of learning is evident across the stage 4/5 and biology stage 6 syllabi. Another good example is that students learn and understand the theory of evolution in stage 4/5 and evaluate two different models of human evolution in biology module 9.8.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion that stage 4/5 syllabus acquires the knowledge and skills in general science, stage 6 syllabus acquires the knowledge and skills in biology only. And stage 6 develops further than stage 4/5. For 8.2 A Local Ecosystem which I did, this module increases students’ understanding of the nature, practice and applications of biology.
ReplyDeleteJust to add for this particular module, I found that it is a continuing topic from primary school up until year 12 biology. Evolution and Australian biota is something that we as teachers will be teaching to students throughout their entire school life. I have noticed that this ongoing continuum of learning is increased slightly in every stage. it is such an important topic, containing essential knowledge about our native environment.
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