If you are a teacher in Utah and teaching using the new standards, Utah SEEd. You may be wondering how to read and understand the standards.

I really like the Utah SEEd standards. I think they are well organized and easy to use. Utah SEEd stands for Utah Science and Engineering Education Standards.

The Three Dimensions of Science are Right in the Utah SEEd Standards

Organization of Utah SEEd

The Utah SEEd standards are organized into strands which represent significant areas of learning within grade level progressions and content areas. Each strand introduction is an orientation for the teacher in order to provide an overall view of the concepts needed for foundational understanding. These include descriptions of how the standards tie together thematically and which DCIs are used to unite that theme. Within each strand are standards.

Each standard has three numbers. The first number is the grade level. The second number is the strand number and the third number indicates the number of the standard within the strand.

1. 2. 4 . Would be First Grade. Second Strand. Fourth Standard in that strand.

Each standard is framed upon the three dimensions of science to represent.

The authors of the Utah SEEd made sure that all three dimensions are right in each Utah SEEd standard. You will see the Science and Engineering Practice, the Crosscutting Concept, and the Disciplinary Core Idea in each standard. This makes the Utah SEEd standards very easy to read.

In each standard, the Science and Engineering Practice is written in bold. This shows what the students should be doing in the standard.

Each Crosscutting Concept is underlined

The DCI is in regular font and the DCI codes are listed and the end of the standard in parentheses.

Some of the standards have italics. If you see italics, that indicates a specific Engineering expectation.

Some standards have an Emphasis Statement

Emphasis statements start with the word “Emphasize…”

Example Statements start with the words, “Examples could include…”

Utah SEEd standards are a great set of well-organized science standards specific to Utah. Thank you for reading this post.

More About the Utah SEEd

Science is a way of knowing, a process for understanding the natural world. Engineering applies the fields of science, technology, and mathematics to produce solutions to real-world problems. The process of developing scientific knowledge includes ongoing questioning, testing, and refinement of ideas when supported by empirical evidence. Since progress in modern society is tied so closely to this way of knowing, scientific literacy is essential for a society to be engaged in political and economic choices on personal, local, regional, and global scales. As such, the Utah SEEd standards are based on the following essential elements of scientific literacy.

Science is valuable, relevant, and applicable.
Science produces knowledge that is inherently important to our society and culture. Science and engineering support innovation and enhance the lives of individuals and society. Science is supported from and benefited by an equitable and democratic culture. Science is for all people, at all levels of education, and from all backgrounds.

Science is a shared way of knowing and doing.
Science learning experiences should celebrate curiosity, wonder, skepticism, precision, and accuracy. Scientific habits of mind include questioning, communicating, reasoning, analyzing, collaborating, and thinking critically. These values are shared within and across scientific disciplines, and should be embraced by students, teachers, and society at large.

Science is principled and enduring.
Scientific knowledge is constructed from empirical evidence; therefore, it is both changeable and durable. Science is based on observations and inferences, an understanding of scientific laws and theories, use of scientific methods, creativity, and collaboration. The Utah SEEd standards are based on current scientific theories, which are powerful and broad explanations of a wide range of phenomena; they are not simply guesses nor are they unchangeable facts. Science is principled in that it is limited to observable evidence. Science is also enduring in that theories are only accepted when they are robustly supported by multiple lines of peer reviewed evidence. The history of science demonstrates how scientific knowledge can change and progress, and it is rooted in the cultures from which it emerged. Scientists, engineers, and society, are responsible for developing scientific understandings with integrity, supporting claims with existing and new evidence, interpreting competing explanations of phenomena, changing models purposefully, and finding applications that are ethical.

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