NATURAL HAZARDS

1. Internal and external processes of the earth system cause natural hazards, events that change or destroy human and wildlife habitats, damage property, and harm or kill humans. Natural hazards include earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, floods, storms, and even possible impacts of asteroids.
2. Human activities also can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes.
3. Natural hazards can present personal and societal challenges because misidentifying the change or incorrectly estimating the rate and scale of change may result in either too little attention and significant human costs or too much cost for unneeded preventive measures.

RISKS AND BENEFITS

1. Risk analysis considers the type of hazard and estimates the number of people that might be exposed and the number likely to suffer the consequences. The results are used to determine the options for reducing or eliminating risks.
2. Students should understand the risks associated with natural hazards (fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions), with chemical hazards (pollutants in air, water, soil, and food), with biological hazards (pollen, viruses, bacterial, and parasites), social hazards (occupational safety and transportation), and with personal hazards (smoking, dieting, and drinking).
3. Individuals can use a systematic approach to thinking critically about risks and benefits. Examples include applying probability estimates to risks and comparing them to estimated personal and social benefits.
4. Important personal and social decisions are made based on perceptions of benefits and risks.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SOCIETY

1. Science influences society through its knowledge and world view. Scientific knowledge and the procedures used by scientists influence the way many individuals in society think about themselves, others, and the environment. The effect of science on society is neither entirely beneficial nor entirely detrimental.
2. Societal challenges often inspire questions for scientific research, and social priorities often influence research priorities through the availability of funding for research.
3. Technology influences society through its products and processes. Technology influences the quality of life and the ways people act and interact. Technological changes are often accompanied by social, political, and economic changes that can be beneficial or detrimental to individuals and to society. Social needs, attitudes, and values influence the direction of technological development.
4. Science and technology have advanced through contributions of many different people, in different cultures, at different times in history. Science and technology have contributed enormously to economic growth and productivity among societies and groups within societies.
5. Scientists and engineers work in many different settings, including colleges and universities, businesses and industries, specific research institutes, and government agencies.
6. Scientists and engineers have ethical codes requiring that human subjects involved with research be fully informed about risks and benefits associated with the research before the individuals choose to participate. This ethic extends to potential risks to communities and property. In short, prior knowledge and consent are required for research involving human subjects or potential damage to property.
7. Science cannot answer all questions and technology cannot solve all human problems or meet all human needs. Students should understand the difference between scientific and other questions. They should appreciate what science and technology can reasonably contribute to society and what they cannot do. For example, new technologies often will decrease some risks and increase others.

Real Science-4-Kids meets this standard in the following ways:

Because each level of the RS4K curricula covers subjects in the same order (with more depth added for higher levels), the following alignments are generally true for Pre-Level I and Level II as well as Level I. However, specific examples are taken from Level I RS4K texts and Kogs-4-Kids™ workbooks since that age range most closely matches that of the National Standards presented here. Kogs workbooks match the subject matter of each chapter but expand that subject in the context of the book’s category (philosophy, critical thinking, history, etc.). Because information is built upon with each chapter, many types of knowledge in the standards show up in virtually all chapters. However, the key chapters for each section are shown below.

Personal Health

A. through D.:  Human anatomy and human fitness are not specifically covered in the textbooks as of July 2009, but subjects not covered by current books may be addressed in upcoming curricula.

E.: Chapter 8 (Energy Molecules) in Chemistry Level I goes into detail about why humans need to eat and how our bodies obtain fuel to run properly. Specific nutritional requirements are not addressed in the RS4K texts available as of July 2009.

F. Human anatomy and sexual function are not specifically covered in the textbooks as of July 2009, but subjects not covered by current books may be addressed in upcoming curricula.

G. The first RS4K Earth/Space teaching materials will be available in 2010 and may cover such environmental issues.

Populations, Resources, and Environments

A. and B.:  Chapter 10 (Our Balanced World) in Level I Biology discusses in general terms what an ecosystem is and how our food, air and water cycles work. The upcoming Earth/Space series may further address these issues.

Natural Hazards

A. through C.:  These issues may be addressed to varying degrees in the upcoming Earth/Space series.

Risks and Benefits

A., B. and D.: These issues may be addressed to varying degrees in the upcoming Earth/Space series.

C.:  While probability risk analysis is not covered in existing RS4K materials, the process of using critical thinking tools is covered extensively in the Critical Thinking workbook in the Kogs-4-Kids™ series. Critical thinking tools and skills are also explained and promoted in the Laboratory Workbook experiments associated with RS4K chemistry, biology and physics texts. Chapter 1 (What is Physics?) in the Level I Physics Student Text explains the scientific method in detail.

Science and Technology

A. The entire Kogs-4-Kids series of workbooks are designed to illustrate how science has always affected our world and vice versa, with specifics in history, language, arts, philosophy, technology and critical thinking. Benefits and detrimental side effects are discussed as appropriate to each subject. For example, chapter 8 in the chemistry text explains energy molecules. The related Kogs chapter specifically discusses fats as a source of energy. The story of the development of margarine is used to illustrate several points, including the fact that harmful side effects of hydrogenating oil were discovered years after we began using margarine.

B. and C.: The introduction to Chemistry Connects to Technology specifically addresses the reciprocity of science and technology. An example that is used is how the accidental discovery of glass allowed magnification. That ability to magnify, in turn, allowed the use of telescopes in the study of the cosmos, which developed as a branch of science. The later use of curved mirrors demonstrates the progression of technology for even better scientific discoveries. All of the Kogs further delve into how discoveries alter society and vice versa. The effects of learning that Earth revolves around the Sun, and the trials of having that fact become accepted, is an excellent example discussed in the Kogs workbook for philosophy (chapter 4).

D.: Inventors and scientists from numerous countries – including Sweden, Russia, Italy, Iran, Greece and the U.S. – are identified specifically throughout both Gravitas’ textbooks and Kogs workbooks. Examples of how discoveries and inventions have benefited societies, and often the inventors personally, are throughout.

E.: Though the variety of settings for scientific work is not discussed as a subject in itself, the information is contained in the very wide array of examples of where and how inventions and discoveries have been made.

F.: Human testing is not a subject specifically discussed in existing RS4K materials.

G.: Because validation of results and conclusions is a subject covered repeatedly throughout RS4K and Kogs materials, examples are often given of the difference between scientific knowledge and the interpretation of that knowledge. The Kogs workbook on critical thinking is at the heart of this topic. Likewise, the Kogs workbook on philosophy explains the periods in human history when science and philosophy have been closely connected and when they have not.