Subject Group: Science
These subjects demonstrate how to explore nature using carefully planned methods, and teach the basic methods and findings of scientific investigation.
Brief Description:
We come across science in everyday things in the world around us, both living and non-living. Studying Science in school can help you to understand the importance of science in our lives and in the environment.
By the end of Junior Cycle, you will be able to appreciate how scientists work and how scientific ideas are modified over time.
How will Science be useful to me?
Many of the skills you learn while studying science such as problem solving and investigation skills are very useful outside of school and will be of use to you in whatever job you choose to do.
In third level there are many different types of science courses on offer and many different careers open to science students. These include such occupations as: pharmacist, radiographer, doctor, dentist, technician, psychologist, astronomer, teacher, vet and researcher.
The Junior Cycle Science Specification consists of five strands:
The Nature of Science: This is the unifying strand which focuses on how science works, carrying out investigations, communicating in science, and developing an appreciation of the role and contribution of science and scientists to society.
The Chemical World: This strand involves the study of matter and changes it undergoes. As students study this strand, they will develop understandings of the composition and properties of matter, the changes it undergoes, and the energy involved. They learn to communicate their understandings using representations, and the symbols and conventions of chemistry. Earth and Space: This strand focuses on students' development of a sense of the structure of the universe and some organising principles of astronomy. Students explore relationships between many kinds of astronomical objects and evidence for the history of the universe.
Physical World: The involves the exploration of physical obserables, often in relation to motion, energy, and electricity. Students gain an understanding of fundatmental concepts such as length, time, mass and temperature through appropriate experiments. This allows them to develop, simultaneously, a sense of scaling and proportional reasoning, to recognise the need for common units, and to select and use appropriate measuring equipment.
Biological World: This strand leads students to an understanding of living things and how they interact with each other and the environment. In this strand, students are introduced to the cell as the basic unit of life, and how characteristics are inherited from one generation to the next. Students develop an understanding of the diversity of life, life processes and how life has evolved.
