Thursday, August 28th, 2008

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The centerpiece tool of Curriculum Topic Study is the CTS study guide. There are 147 CTS study guides of various grain sizes, from specific to broad, representing a comprehensive range of content and process-based science topics. Specific topics may be subsumed within broader topics. Selecting the grain size of a CTS topic study guide depends on your purpose. For example, if your purpose is to focus on density related ideas, then you might choose the CTS guide, Density. If your purpose is to focus on different physical properties of matter, including density, then you might choose Physical Properties and Change. A broader purpose might address characteristic physical and chemical characteristic properties of matter. In this case, you might choose Properties of Matter. It is up to the CTS user to determine how broad or specific you want your topic study to be.

The 147 CTS topics are organized alphabetically in 11 categories, representing major organizing domains in science. The CTS study guides within a particular category reflect the purpose of the study. For example, if your purpose is to examine curricular content related to the diversity of animal species on earth, you would select the Animal Life CTS guide in the category Diversity of Life. However, if your purpose is to examine curricular content related to animal cells, you would select the Cells CTS guide in the Biological Structure and Function category.

The 11 categories used for organizing the CTS guides are:

Diversity of Life Ecology Biological Structure and Function Life's Continuity and Change Matter Earth Astronomy Energy, Force, and Motion Inquiry and the Nature of Science and Technology Implications of Science and Technology Unifying Themes

CTS topics can also be combined to form a broad study of a content standard. For example, if you want to study a broad content standard or subject area such as Earth Science, there is no CTS guide for Earth Science. However, a careful examination of the guides in the Earth category show that a combination of Earth History, Processes that Change the Surface of the Earth, Structure of the Solid Earth, Weather and Climate, Air and Atmosphere, and Water in the Earth System collectively address the comprehensive content standard or K-12 subject area of Earth Science.

To download a complete listing and page number references of the CTS guides, please click on one of the options below (note: for those who have the CTS book, you may find this version easier to use than the listing on pages ix-x):

• CTS Guide Listing Online
• CTS Guide Listing in Word Format