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Technology Standards and Benchmarks
Technology Standard and Benchmarks Standard 3:
Understands the relationships among science, technology, society, and the individual
Level III (Grade 6-8)
- Knows that scientific inquiry and technological design have similarities and differences (e.g., scientists propose explanations for questions about the natural world that are always tentative and evolving, and engineers propose solutions relating to human problems, needs, and aspirations; both science and technology depend on accurate scientific information and they cannot contravene scientific laws)
- Knows that science cannot answer all questions and technology cannot solve all human problems or meet all human needs
- Knows ways in which technology has influenced the course of history (e.g., revolutions in agriculture, manufacturing, sanitation, medicine, warfare, transportation, information processing, communication)
- Knows that technology and science have a reciprocal relationship (e.g., technology drives science, as it provides the means to access outer space and remote locations, collect and treat samples, collect, measure, store, and compute data, and communicate information; science drives technology, as it provides principles for better instrumentation and techniques, and the means to address questions that demand more sophisticated instruments)
- Knows ways in which technology and society influence one another (e.g., new products and processes for society are developed through technology; technological changes are often accompanied by social, political, and economic changes; technology is influenced by social needs, attitudes, values, and limitations, and cultural backgrounds and beliefs)
- Knows ways technology is used to protect the environment and prevent damage caused by nature (e.g., new building technologies protect cities from earthquakes, bacteria are used in cleaning water)
Level IV (Grade 9-12)
- Knows that science and technology are pursued for different purposes (e.g., scientific inquiry is driven by the desire to understand the natural world and seeks to answer questions that may or may not directly influence humans; technology is driven by the need to meet human needs and solve human problems)
- Knows ways in which social and economic forces influence which technologies will be developed and used (e.g., cultural and personal values, consumer acceptance, patent laws, availability of risk capital, the federal budget, local and national regulations, media attention, economic competition, tax incentives)
- Knows that alternatives, risks, costs, and benefits must be considered when deciding on proposals to introduce new technologies or to curtail existing ones (e.g., Are there alternative ways to achieve the same ends? Who benefits and who suffers? What are the financial and social costs and who bears them? How serious are the risks and who is in jeopardy? What resources will be needed and where will they come from?)
- Knows that technological knowledge is often not made public because of patents and the financial potential of the idea or invention; scientific knowledge is made public through presentations at professional meetings and publications in scientific journals
- Knows examples of advanced and emerging technologies (e.g., virtual environment, personal digital assistants, voice recognition software) and how they could impact society
- Knows that mathematics, creativity, logic, and originality are all needed to improve technology
- Knows the role of technology in a variety of careers
- Knows that the rate of technological development and diffusion is increasing rapidly, even though individual technologies may be developed at a slow pace due to technical difficulties or consumer resistance
- Knows that technology can benefit the environment by providing scientific information, providing new solutions to older problems, and reducing the negative consequences of existing technology (e.g., monitoring a habitat or measuring greenhouse gases, improving renewable energy sources, and creating scrubbers to improve coal-burning facilities)
Technology Standard and Benchmarks Standard 5:
Understands the nature and operation of systems
Level III (Grade 6-8)
- Knows that a system can include processes as well as components
- Knows how part of a system can provide feedback when its output (in the form of material, energy, or information) becomes input for another part of the system
- Identifies the elements, structure, sequence, operation, and control of systems
- Knows that systems are usually linked to other systems, both internally and externally, and can contain subsystems as well as operate as subsystems
- Knows that an open-loop system (e.g., a microwave as a heating system) has no feedback and requires human intervention, where a closed-loop system (e.g., a household heating system with a thermostat) uses feedback
Level IV (Grade 9-12)
- Knows that a system usually has some properties that are different from those of its parts, but appear because of the interaction of those parts
- Knows that understanding how things work and designing solutions to problems of almost any kind can be facilitated by systems thinking, which employs mathematical modeling and simulation
- Knows that in defining a system, it is important to specify its boundaries and subsystems, indicate its relation to other systems, and identify what its input and its output are expected to be
- Knows how feedback can be used to help monitor, control, and stabilize the operation of a system
- Knows that even in simple systems, accurate prediction of the effect of changing some part of the system is not always possible
- Knows that complex systems are subject to failure and are designed with various elements and procedures (e.g., performance testing, overdesign, redundancy, more controls) that help reduce system failure
- Knows that systems are embedded within larger systems, including technological, social, and environmental systems
Technology Standard and Benchmarks Standard 6:
Understands the nature and uses of different forms of technology
Level III (Grade 6-8)
- Knows that most technological systems require an input of energy, which is an important consideration both in designing an object or a system and in conserving energy (e.g., so many things require energy that alternative sources to fossil fuels should be used when possible)
Level IV (Grade 9-12)
- Understands scientific principles of energy, work, and power in relation to technological design (e.g., the Second Law of Thermodynamics means that a system cannot be designed which is 100% efficient)
- Knows that power systems (i.e., systems which convert energy from one form to another) have a source of energy, a process, loads, and some have a feedback system
- Knows that modern transportation systems are diverse (allowing humans to combine types of transportation for the most direct and convenient route), intelligent (requiring coordinated subsystems, such as a traffic light system), and are necessary in the functioning of most other technologies
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Selected Standards and Benchmarks
used by permission:
Copyright
2003 McRel
Mid-continent Research for
Education and Learning
2550 S. Parker Road, Suite 500
Aurora, CO 80014
Telephone: (303) 337-0990
www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks
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