The science program should be coordinated with the mathematics program to enhance student use and understanding of mathematics in the study of science and to improve student understanding of mathematics.

Science requires the use of mathematics in the collection and treatment of data and in the reasoning used to develop concepts, laws, and theories. School science and mathematics programs should be coordinated so that students learn the necessary mathematical skills and concepts before and during their use in the science program.

Coordination of science and mathematics programs provides an opportunity to advance instruction in science beyond the purely descriptive. Students gathering data in a science investigation should use tools of data analysis to organize these data and to formulate hypotheses for further testing. Using data from actual investigations from science in mathematics courses, students encounter all the anomalies of authentic problems--inconsistencies, outliers, and errors--which they might not encounter with contrived textbook data.

If teachers of mathematics use scientific examples and methods, understanding in both disciplines will be enhanced. For mathematics, coordination reinforces the perspective of investigation and experimentation that is emphasized in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards. The mathematics that students should understand and use in the study of science as articulated in the NCTM mathematics standards are listed in Table 7.1.

Connecting the science and mathematics programs requires coordination at the school and district levels. Those who develop guiding frameworks must work together to ensure that the potential for connection is in place at the district level. At the school level, teachers of mathematics and science must develop and implement a coordinated program.