The cognitive and conceptual abilities of students vary greatly from kindergarten to fourth grade and, as with the NSES K-4 science content standards, the K-4 biological evolution content standards (see Fig. 1) present the concepts and principles the students should develop an understanding of by the time they have completed fourth grade.
As before, the use of fossils links the current NSES K-4 life science and earth science content standards to the K-4 biological evolution content standards so students can understand the relationship that fossils have to biological evolution.
These concepts were used because they currently exist in the NSES K-4 life science and earth science content standards thereby reinforcing and integrating the K-4 biological evolution content standards to the current NSES K-4 life science and earth science content standards.
Concepts from the current NSES K-4 life science and earth science content standards sections were used to construct the K-4 biological evolution content standards.
Similarly, Wagler (2010) presents potential K-4 biological evolution standards to be used in conjunction with National Science Education Standards that currently lack K-4 evolution content standards.
Furthermore, because the National Science Education Standards NRCC 1996) did not provide national biological evolution content standards for kindergarten through fourth grade, biological evolution content standards were developed that could be used in conjunction with the National Science Education Standards K-4 life science and K-4 earth science content standards (NRC 1996) (see Fig. 1).
The K-4 biological evolution content standards should be added to the NSES K-4 life science content standards and used in conjunction with the NSES K-4 life science (NRC 1996, p. 129) and earth science (p. 134, see fossil reference) content standards.
These concepts were also incorporated into the K-4 biological evolution content standards to encourage the use of the NSES K-4 scientific inquiry standards in the K-4th grade classroom, specifically through the use of cognitively appropriate K-4th grade scientific inquiry activities that incorporate the use of fossils to increase student's biological evolution knowledge (NRC 1996).
For a full review of the K-4 biological evolution content standards including examples of integration activities using the K-4 biological evolution content standards and supplemental teacher information for the K-4 biological evolution content standards, see Wagler 2010.
Fig. 1 K-4 biological evolution content standards.
