There is often a steady trajectory of curriculum change under the surface of developments that might seem arbitrary or inconsistent. This article traces the change from key competencies to science capabilities and, most recently, to enduring competencies. All these changes (and names) respond to increasing awareness of the challenges involved in weaving curriculum elements together. For the Science learning area, these challenges centre on how best to understand why the Nature of Science strand was included in the Science learning area, and what difference it should make to learning experiences. Other learning areas can doubtless describe similar types of curriculum weaving challenges.