The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades
In Flanders, different disciplines (i.e., biology, physics, history, geography, psychology, philosophy, and sociology) provide an overall structure within which students systematically acquire scientific concepts, patterns, skills, and attitudes.
In the primary grades, science is taught as World Orientation or Environmental Studies. Until September 1, 2015, the science curriculum comprised six domains (Nature, Technology, Man, Society, Time, and Space), each with its own developmental objectives and attainment targets. As of September 1, 2015, the government split the curriculum into two new learning domains—Man and Society, and Science and Technology.7 Science education at the primary level includes the following student skill objectives:
- Develop basic competencies for exploring the self and the environment in an increasingly profound way
- Develop interest in the lives of people, present and past, at home and abroad
- Develop a basic attitude of openness and respect toward nature, man, and society
- Develop basic skills for managing information independently
In the primary grades, the Flemish Community curriculum defines the content of World Orientation as well as objectives for the topics of Animate and Inanimate Nature, Health and Environmental Education, and Technology. Students acquire knowledge, understanding, skills, and attitudes about animate nature (e.g., people, animals, and plants) and inanimate nature (e.g., weather and climate, the universe, and materials). Objectives in health and environmental education are linked to this content. Several topics included on the TIMSS assessments are introduced in the fifth or sixth grade in Flanders.