The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades
Science in the primary grades5 is divided into two subjects—Nature and Natural Science—and includes the following student objectives:
- Learn the basics of research in science
- Learn about systems in nature
- Learn about processes in nature
- Understand the diversity and unity of nature
- Understand the importance of achievements in the natural sciences for daily life
- Understand the necessity of preserving the environment and human health
The science curriculum is structured around the following main topics:
- Basics of research
- Nature’s systems
- Nature’s processes
- Humans and the environment
- Basics of experimentation
Science in Grades 7 to 9 includes the following subjects: Geography, Geography of Armenia, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. The curriculum for these subjects includes the following topics:
- Physics—The concept of “body” in physics and simple measurements; body movement and interactions in a reference frame; work, power, and simple machines; the structure of materials; pressure; kinematics and dynamics; mechanical vibrations and waves; heat and temperature; electrical and electromagnetic and optical phenomena; and the structure of atoms and nuclei
- Chemistry—Basic concepts of chemistry; oxygen, oxides, and combustion; hydrogen, acids, and salts; water, solutions, and bases; basic groups of inorganic compounds; the periodic table of the chemical elements; chemical bonds and the structure of molecules; electrolytic dissociation; subgroups of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and halogens; and organic compounds
- Geography—Earth and its geography; Earth’s continents and oceans; the geography of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Nagorny Kharabakh, their regions and states (nature, population, economy); and social geography
- Biology—Lower plant forms (algae); higher plant forms (moss, ferns, gymnosperms, angiosperms); bacteria, fungi, protozoans (infuzoria, sporozoa); metazoans (types of coelenterate, worms, mollusks, arthropods); chordates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals); humans (blood, blood circulation, the immune system); and human body systems (respiratory, digestive, excretory, nervous, musculoskeletal, endocrine, reproductive, sensory organs, skin, metabolism)