2.3 The Science Curriculum of Elementary School
Science at the elementary school level is taught as an integrated discipline called "Nature". In the "Nature" course, scientific attitudes, creative thinking, and decision-making are emphasized. The objectives of the course are itemized as follows: 1) to acquire rudimentary methods of inquiring about the nature and utilize them in solving problems; 2) to understand facts and concepts about natural phenomena and apply them to explaining natural phenomena; 3) to build interests and curiosity in natural phenomena and scientific inquiries and to develop scientific attitudes; and 4) to understand that science influences technological development and is strongly related to our life.
The contents include not only knowledge such as matter, motion and energy, life, and earth, but also inquiry activities such as observation, classification, measuring, communicating, predicting, using models, interpreting data, experimentation, and so forth. The chemistry contents in the science curriculum of elementary school are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2. The chemistry contents in the science curriculum of elementary school.
Grade
|
Unit
|
|
Content
|
3
|
Various matter
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: color and feel of powders, change of powders when dissolved in water, change of powders by heat, flow and vaporization of liquids, change in mixing liquids
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: observation of color and feel of powders, observation of the dissolution of powders, observation of the change of powders by heat, observation of the flow and vaporization of liquids, observation of the change in mixing liquids, collecting samples of powders and liquids
|
4
|
Separation of mixtures
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: properties of matter, methods of separation
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: prediction of the components of powders, experiment on the separation of mixtures, searching for samples of separation in everyday life
|
Heat and change of objects
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: relationship between heat and temperature, heat transfer, expansion of objects by heat, change in states by heat
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: measurement of temperature, experimentation and data interpretation on the relationship between heat and temperature, experiment on heat transfer, observation of expanding objects by heat, observation of the change in states by heat
|
5
|
Dissolution
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: dissolution of matter, amount of matter that can be dissolved in solvent, comparison of the weights of matter before and after dissolution
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: observation of the dissolution of solids in various solvents, observation of miscible liquids, inference on the dissolution of gas in liquid, making crystals from solution, comparison of the weights of matter before and after dissolution, use of a balance
|
Properties of acids and bases
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: properties of acidic solutions, properties of basic solutions, reaction of metals in acidic solutions, acids and bases in everyday life
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: classification of acidic, basic, and neutral solutions, observation of the characteristics of acidic and basic solutions, making a neutral solution, observation of the reaction of metals in acidic solutions, investigation on the use of acids and bases in everyday life
|
6
|
Molecules
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: size of molecules, intermolecular distance, diffusion of gas, evaporation, sublimation, change in volume accompanying the change in states
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: observation of the dissolution of powders, observation of evaporation, observation of sublimation, observation of diffusion, inference on the temperature dependence of the speed of molecular motion, observation of the change in volume accompanying the change in states, inference on the intermolecular distance by measuring volume change when two liquids are mixed
|
Oxygen and carbon dioxide
|
(a)
|
Knowledge: preparation and properties of oxygen, preparation and properties of carbon dioxide, combustion
|
(b)
|
Inquiry activity: collection of gases, observation of the color and smell of oxygen, investigation on the use of oxygen in daily life, measurement of the ignition time of a candle in bottles of different volume
|
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