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Does the change of Science as a Human Endeavour from a strand to a sub-strand diminish its importance in a contemporary Science curriculum?
No. The relocation of Science as a Human Endeavour as a sub-strand of the Science Understanding strand emphasises that science understanding is not only about factual knowledge in the science disciplines, sometimes referred to as 'science literacy', but also about the applications and implications of science knowledge from personal, social and ethical perspectives, sometimes referred to as 'scientific literacy'.
Some aspects of the AusVELS Science as a Human Endeavour strand that relate to how existing knowledge is challenged and investigated and the nature of scientific evidence have been relocated within the Science Inquiry Skills sub-strands.
Do schools have to teach Science every year?
Schools are required to teach Science every year, from Year 3 onwards.
The curriculum includes content descriptions and achievement standards for Foundation – Level 2, but schools do not have to teach Science at these levels. It is a school-based decision as to whether the teaching of science is undertaken at these earlier levels. Many teachers do find that they are actually addressing the content in these earlier levels through integrated units or particular themes and thus decide to assess and report progress to parents. Students do need this understanding to scaffold their learning regardless of when the teaching and learning program begins.