NEWS OF THE WEEK

PROMOTING SCIENCE LITERACY AAAS sets benchmarks for students

A major new milestone was reached / % last week in efforts to promote

J L J L science literacy by reforming kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) science education.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) Project 2061 released "Benchmarks for Science Literacy"—which the associa­tion describes as the first-ever guide­lines for what all students should know and be able to do in science, mathemat­ics, and technology at specific points during their education.

"Benchmarks" spells out the capabili­ties students should reach by the end of grades two, five, eight, and 12. AAAS emphasizes that, as guidelines, they are not a curriculum or curriculum outline, but rather a tool for curriculum design.

The guidelines also underscore the need to revamp the way science subjects are taught, notes Project 2061 director F. James Rutherford. "Project 2061 advo­cates that by teaching less material—but

teaching it better—and making the con­nection to arts, humanities, and voca­tional subjects, students will learn more and have a better understanding of facts and concepts," he explains.

A number of current U.S. initiatives focus on science and math education generally, and on achievement of science literacy by the general public. AAAS's Project 2061 is a long-term initiative aimed at transforming K-12 education for the 21st century so that all students achieve science literacy. Science educa­tion also is embodied in one of six Na­tional Education Goals for the year 2000 set by former President George Bush and the nation's governors in 1989.

In an initiative by the National Re­search Council (NRC), a National Com­mittee on Science Education Standards & Assessment is developing comprehen­sive standards for content, teaching, and assessment of programs and students. This threefold approach is one of the fea­tures distinguishing NRCs effort from

T H E L I V I N G E N V I R O N M E N T

Kindergarten through Grade 2

Students should investigate the habitats of many different kinds of local plants and animals, includ­ing weeds, aquatic plants, insects, worms, and amphibians, and some of the ways in which animals depend on plants and each other.

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that: • Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants (or even other animals) for shelter and nesting. • Living things are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat different kinds in different places.

Grades 3 through 5

Students should explore how various organisms satisfy their needs in the environments in which they are typically found. They can examine the survival needs of different organisms and consider how the conditions in particular habitats can limit what

kinds of living things can survive. Their studies of interactions among organisms within an environment should start with relationships they can directly observe. By viewing nature films, students should see a great diversity of life in different habitats.

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that: • For any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. • Insects and various other organisms depend on dead plant and animal material for food. • Organisms interact with one another in various ways besides providing food. Many plants depend on animals for carrying their pollen to other plants or for dispersing their seeds. • Changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful. • Most microorganisms do not cause disease, and many are beneficial.

//Benchmarks// says Johns Hopkins Uni­versity biology professor James D. Ebert, the committee chairman.

NRC expects to disseminate a first draft of the standards nationwide for comment by next February, with comments coming in through early summer. A final draft could be ready by the end of 1994.

Such efforts to develop standards and guidelines are laudable, notes a leading chemical educator. But wheth­er they will make a difference, he stresses, depends finally on how the material is interpreted for design of curricula and instructional tools.

"Benchmarks" is a followup to "Sci­ence for All Americans/7 That study— published by AAAS in 1989 as the first phase of Project 2061—resulted from a three-year process involving hundreds of individuals and culminating in rec­ommendations for what understandings and habits of mind are essential for all citizens in a scientifically literate society.

Phase II of Project 2061 set up six teams of K-12 educators charged with reconceptualizing curricula in light of the recommendations of ' 'Science for All Americans/7 The six teams were or­ganized in diverse school districts across the U.S.—in rural Georgia; in suburban Madison, Wis.; and in urban Philadel­phia, San Antonio, San Diego, and San Francisco. The teams included elementa­ry, middle, and high school teachers of science, mathematics, technology, and social studies, as well as principals and curriculum specialists—all backed up by university consultants and Proj­ect 2061 staff.

Each team independently concluded that a set of intermediary learning out­comes is needed to guide design of cur­riculum models. Finding unexpectedly that their grade-level expectations were alike, the teams agreed to formulate a single set of science literacy goals or standards. "Benchmarks" is the result.

"Benchmarks" offers specific guidelines at four grade levels

4 NOVEMBER 1, 1993 C&EN

Third-quarter earnings up

Air Products Allied-Signal Arco Chemical Dow Chemical Du Pont

Ethyl B. F. Goodrich Great Lakes Chemical Hercules Imcera

Lubrizol Monsanto Morton International Nalco Chemical Olin

Praxair Rohm & Haas Union Carbide Witco

for many chemical THIRD-QUARTER 1993

Sales Earnings3

($ millions)

$ 855.5 2822.0

782.0 2988.0 9231.0

486.9 500.8 469.7 676.0 444.9

390.8 1849.0 619.6 354.0 606.8

608.0 799.0 889.0 540.6

$ 59.6 168.0 55.0

139.0 355.0

29.8 17.2 68.5 51.5 35.3

27.1 95.0 42.9 38.7

5.0

36.0 29.0 38.0 22.9

Change from 1992

Sales Earnings

2% -4 -1 -7 -5

6 -23

28 -5

7

8 -2 15

1 5

-7 -1 -9 27

a Earnings from continuing operations, excluding significant nonrecurring and percentage of sales.

-8% 24

-26 -9 -6

34 537

14 27 28

42 107 23 11

-15

9 ^ 3

73 21

extraordinary

producers

Profit marginb

1993

7.0% 6.0 7.0 4.7 3.8

6.1 3.4

14.6 7.6 7.9

6.9 5.1 6.9

10.9 0.8

5.9 3.6 4.3 4.2

items, b Earn

1992

7.7% 4.6 9.4 4.7 3.9

4.8 0.4

16.4 5.7 6.6

5.2 2.4 6.5

10.0 1.0

5.1 6.3 2.3 4.4

ngs as a

"Benchmarks" states that every stu­dent should leave school with a good grasp of how science works; possess knowledge of major science, mathe­matics, and technology concepts and principles; and have the capacity to think scientifically.

It details precisely the skills and con­cepts all students should know and be able to do at the four grade levels—from motion and the forces of nature to social conflict and how political and economic systems develop. All told, science litera­cy is defined in terms of some 65 sets of concepts and skills in 12 groups that are congruent with those set out in "Science for All Americans."

"Benchmarks for Science Literacy" will be available shortly from Oxford Univer­sity Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016, or by calling (800) 451-7556. The estimated price is $21.95.

James Krieger

Chemical earnings rise again in third quarter Early reports of third-quarter earnings from major U.S. chemical producers in­dicate that the earnings turnaround be­gun in the second quarter is continuing.

Earnings from July through Septem­ber for a group of 19 companies—each with annual sales of more than $1 bil­lion—increased an aggregate 8% over the same period in 1992 to $1.31 billion. The earnings are from continuing opera­tions, excluding significant nonrecurring and extraordinary items.

While earnings were rising, sales for the group fell 3% to about $26 billion. This increased the group's total profit margin to 5.0% from 4.5% in the same period last year.

Despite the earnings rise, it's an open question how much of the improvement is due to economic recovery, and how much to efforts by companies to make operations more efficient by streamlin­ing businesses, divesting less profitable operations, and cutting back jobs. After all, many companies showed exceptional­ly good earnings gains in the third quarter while sales were falling. This indicates that problems with demand and pricing still remain in the chemical economy. And U.S. industry is still being hurt by weak European and Japanese economies.

A striking example of earnings im­provement on falling sales is B. F. Good­

rich, whose earnings increased more than sixfold to $17.2 million, while sales fell 23% to $501 million. However, Good­rich's sales decline came from spinning off its lackluster Geon vinyl operations into a separate company.

Monsanto is another example. Its earnings more than doubled from the year-earlier period to $95 million, but sales fell 2% to about $1.85 billion. Chair­man and chief executive officer Richard J. Mahoney says: 'We've set ambitious financial goals and we're taking tough disciplined actions to achieve these ob­jectives. We're doing so by continuing to cut costs, grow our franchise products, and aggressively manage our businesses despite weak European and Japanese economies and despite increasing chal­lenges in the pharmaceutical industry."

Some companies did turn in overall good results for the quarter. For in­stance, Morton International's earnings rose 23% to $42.9 million on a 15% sales gain to $620 million. Although a good part of these increases came in other businesses, Morton's specialty chemical operations performed well—with sales up 4% to $334 million, and operating profits up 17% to $51.8 million.

However, several companies showed declines in both sales and earnings. For

example, earnings for Du Pont, the larg­est U.S. chemical producer, fell 6% to $355 million, as sales dropped 5% to $9.23 billion. But chairman and chief ex­ecutive officer Edgar S. Woolard Jr. is optimistic: "We have made extraordi­nary and difficult changes, including job reductions, a reorganization of our busi­nesses, divestitures, and major fixed cost and spending reductions. We expect to have all our businesses healthy and competitive in 1994."

William Storck

High aims for National Chemistry Week set With the approach of National Chemis­try Week (NCW), Nov. 7 to 13, various units of the American Chemical Society are preparing to remind the U.S. public about the positive aspects and impor­tance of chemistry in everyday life.

Activities next week will include nu­merous chemistry exhibits and demon­strations at shopping malls, museums, libraries, and other sites—planned and carried out principally by ACS's 186 lo­cal sections. But staff members at ACS headquarters in Washington, D.C., also

NOVEMBER 1, 1993 C&EN 5