AC9S9H02 Year 9 Science

AC9S9H02 – Year 9 Science: Nature and development of science

Strand

Science as a human endeavour

Substrand

Nature and development of science

This Content Descriptor from Year 9 Science provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

Content Descriptor

investigate how advances in technologies enable advances in science, and how science has contributed to developments in technologies and engineering

Elaborations

• analysing how the development of imaging technologies has improved our understanding of the functions and interactions of body systems
• considering the impact of technological advances developed in Australia such as the cochlear implant pioneered by Professor Graeme Clark, the Monash Vison Group’s work on a bionic eye, Professor Fiona Woods’s development of spray-on skin and Doctor John O’Sullivan and CSIRO’s invention of wi-fi
• researching how technological advances in monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental factors have contributed to the reinstatement of traditional fire management practices as a strategy to reduce atmospheric pollution
• examining how properties of electromagnetic radiation relate to its uses, such as radar, medicine, mobile phone communications, remote sensing and microwave cooking
• exploring how scientists and engineers make machines more energy efficient
• exploring how understanding of the nature of matter and energy has changed over time, and how modern technology has enabled exploration of energy conversion processes at all scales, from black holes to atoms to sub-atomic particles
• examining how advances in understanding of radioactivity and radioisotopes have led to new applications and technologies

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 9 ASSCIY9

Year 9 Science Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 9 students explain how body systems provide a coordinated response to stimuli. They describe how the processes of sexual and asexual reproduction enable survival of the species. They explain how interactions within and between Earth’s spheres affect the carbon cycle. They analyse energy conservation in simple systems and apply wave and particle models to describe energy transfer. They explain observable chemical processes in terms of changes in atomic structure, atomic rearrangement and mass. Students explain the role of publication and peer review in the development of scientific knowledge and explain the relationship between science, technologies and engineering. They analyse the different ways in which science and society are interconnected. Students plan and conduct safe, reproducible investigations to test or identify relationships and models. They describe how they have addressed any ethical and intercultural considerations when generating or using primary and secondary data. They select and use equipment to generate and record replicable data with precision. They select and construct appropriate representations to organise, process and summarise data and information. They analyse and connect data and information to identify and explain patterns, trends, relationships and anomalies. They analyse the impact of assumptions and sources of error in methods and evaluate the validity of conclusions and claims. They construct logical arguments based on evidence to support conclusions and evaluate claims. They select and use content, language and text features effectively to achieve their purpose when communicating their ideas, findings and arguments to specific audiences.