Chapter 2 The Teaching of Science Content
tHE tEACHING OF SCIENCE: 21 st-CENTURY PERSPECTIVES 37
CONCEPTUAL
SCHEME D
CONCEPTUAL
SCHEME E
CONCEPTUAL
SCHEME F
Living things are
interdependent
with one another
and with their
environments.A living thing is
the product of
its heredity and
environment.Living things are in
continuous change.Living things
depend basically
on the capture of
radiant energy by
green plants.Man is the product
of his heredity and
environment.Changes in the
genetic code result
in changes in living
things.CONCEPT
LEVEL VI
Living things
are adapted by
structure and
function to their
environment.The cell is the unit
of structure and
function in living
things.Over the ages,
living things
have changed in
their adaptation
to the changing
environment.CONCEPT
LEVEL V
Living things
capture matter and
energy from the
environment and
return them to the
environment.A living thing
reproduces itself
and develops in a
given environment.Living things
are adapted
to particular
environments.CONCEPT
LEVEL IV
The Earth’s
different
environments
have their own
characteristic life.Living things are
related through
possession of
common structure.Living things
grow and develop
in different
environments.CONCEPT
LEVEL III
Living things
depend on their
environment for the
conditions of life.Related living
things reproduce in
similar ways.Forms of living
things have
become extinct.CONCEPT
LEVEL II
(Analogical)Living things are
affected by their
environment.Living things
reproduce their own
kind.There are different
forms of living
things.CONCEPT
LEVEL I
(Analogical)
Environments differ
(implicit within
the development
of Conceptual
Scheme F).Living things may
differ in structure,
but they have
common needs and
similar life activities.Living things grow
(implicit within
the development
of Conceptual
Scheme E).BEGINNING
CONCEPT
LEVEL
(Analogical)Table 2.1 (continued)
Conceptual FrameworksCopyright © 2010 NSTA. All rights reserved. For more information, go to http://www.nsta.org/permissions.