National Standards and Guidelines Met through the Optics Challenge
National Science Education Standards
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
National Science Education Standards
Content Standards
Standard A: Students develop the abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry and understandings about scientific inquiry.
Standard C: Students develop an understanding of matter, energy, and organization in living systems.
Standard E: Students develop abilities of technological design and understandings about science and technology.
Standard F: Students develop and understanding of personal and community health.
Standard G: Students develop and understanding of science as a human endeavor and the nature of scientific knowledge.
Teaching Standards
Standard A: Teachers develop a framework of yearlong and short-term goals for students. Teachers select content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students. Teachers select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners.
Standard B: Teachers focus and support inquiry while interacting with students. Teachers orchestrate discourse among students about scientific ideas. Teachers challenge students to accept and share responsibility for their own learning. Teachers encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the curiosity openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that characterize science.
Standard C: Teachers use multiple methods and systematically gather data about student understanding and ability. Teachers analyze assessment data to guide teaching and guide the students in self-assessment.
Standard D: Teachers structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended investigations. Teachers create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry. Teachers make the available science tools, materials, media, and technological resources accessible to students. Teachers identify and use resources outside the school and provide a safe working environment. Teachers engage students in designing the learning environment.
Standard E: Teachers display and demand respect for the diverse ideas, skills, and experiences of all students. Teachers enable students to have a significant voice in decisions about the content and context of their work and require students to take responsibility for the learning of all members of the community. Teachers nurture collaboration among students. Teachers model and emphasize the skills, attitude, and values of scientific inquiry.
Assessment Standards
Standard A: Assessments are deliberately designed and have explicitly stated purposes.
Standard C: Assessment tasks are authentic. Students have adequate opportunity to demonstrate their achievements.
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Project 2061
Benchmarks for Habits of Mind
- Find answers to problems by substituting numerical values in simple algebraic formulas and judge whether the answer is reasonable by reviewing the process and checking against typical values. [solving problems in refraction, lens equation, and magnification]
- Make up and write out simple algorithms for solving problems that take several steps. [designing and building a microscope, simple camera, or overhead projector]
- Express and compare very small and very large numbers using powers-of-ten notation. [finding focal lengths and object and image distances]
- Make and interpret scale drawings. [ray tracing diagrams]
- Participate in group discussions on scientific topics by restating or summarizing accurately what others have said, asking for clarification or elaboration, and expressing alternative positions. [discussing pros/cons of LASIK advertising; presenting design of microscope, overhead projector, or simple camera to class]
Benchmarks for Physical Health
- Students should relate their knowledge of normal body functioning to situations, both hereditary and environmental, in which functioning is impaired. [20/20 vision vs. need for glasses] As they come across medical news in the media, students can identify new ways of detection, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or monitoring. [study of LASIK; ethics of LASIK advertising] They should routinely try to find explanations for various disease conditions in physiological, molecular, or systems terms.
Benchmarks in Nature of Science
- Progress in science and invention depends heavily on what else is happening in society, and history often depends on scientific and technological developments. [correlation of development of lasers and LASIK procedure as well human’s increased need to perfect themselves]
Benchmarks in Nature of Technology
- Technological problems often create a demand for new scientific knowledge, and new technologies make it possible for scientists to extend their research in new ways or to undertake entirely new lines of research. The very availability of new technology itself often sparks scientific advances. [developing new ways to correct vision]
- Risk analysis is used to minimize the likelihood of unwanted side effects of a new technology. The public perception of risk may depend, however, on psychological factors as well as scientific ones. [side-effects of LASIK]
- Whenever the amount of energy in one place or form diminishes, the amount in other places or forms increases by the same amount. [study of lasers]
- Heat energy in a material consists of the disordered motions of its atoms or molecules. In any interactions of atoms or molecules, the statistical odds are that they will end up with less order than they began—that is, with the heat energy spread out more evenly. With huge numbers of atoms and molecules, the greater disorder is almost certain. [study of lasers and tissue interactions]
- Waves can superpose on one another, bend around corners, reflect off surfaces, be absorbed by materials they enter, and change direction when entering a new material. All these effects vary with wavelength. The energy of waves (like any form of energy) can be changed into other forms of energy. [study of wave properties]
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
Number and Operations
- Develop a deeper understanding of very large and very small numbers and various representations of them [work with varying focal lengths and object and image distances]
Algebra
- Write equivalent forms of equations, inequalities, and systems of equations and solve them with fluency [use algebra to solve Lensmaker's equation and Snell's Law]
Geometry
- Use trigonometric relationships to determine lengths and angles [use in Snell's Law]
- Use geometric ideas to solve problems in, and gain insights into, other disciplines [using geometry to solve a physics/biooptics problem]
Problem Solving
- Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving [solving the refraction and lens problems adds to or affirms the use of trigonometry and algebra]
- Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts [using math to solve the lens and refraction problems]
Communication
- Organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication [students must communicate the result of their work to answer the question]
- Communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others [LASIK brochure]
Representation
- Create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas [use mathematical representations in ray tracing diagrams]
- Use representations to model and interpret physical, social, and mathematical phenomenon [use mathematical representations in ray tracing diagrams]