The section House Ed members want removed from school science standards…
Here is the section of Idaho’s proposed new school science standards that the House Education Committee has voted to delete, along with all sections of “supporting content” throughout the science standards:
"ESS3-4 Earth and Human Activity
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
ESS3-4-1 Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment. Further explanation: Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels and atomic energy. Examples of environmental effects could include negative biological impacts of wind turbines, erosion due to deforestation, loss of habitat due to dams, loss of habitat due to surface mining, and air pollution from burning of fossil fuels."
Left in was the second standard under this section:
"ESS3-4-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans. Further explanation: Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity. Content limit: Assessment is limited to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions."
Here is the “Supporting Content” that was included under this standard, which the House committee voted to remove, along with all of the numerous other sections of the proposed new standards labeled “supporting content”:
"ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Energy and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, and their use affects the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and others are not. (ESS3-4-1)
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards: A variety of hazards result from natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions). Humans cannot eliminate the hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts. (ESS3-4-2)
ETS1.B: Designing Solutions to Engineering Problems: Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions. (ESS3-4-2)"
