The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades

According to the National Environmental Science curriculum,¹² which covers Grades 1 to 4 (lower primary), students should develop science process skills and reasoning skills through exploring and explaining environmental events and phenomena. The following topics and skill objectives are covered in Grades 1 to 4:

Our Surroundings—Students learn to observe their surroundings, compare living and nonliving things, and take care of their surroundings (i.e., demonstrate care of surroundings and methods of managing waste)
The Nonliving Environment—Students observe the bodies in the sky; observe and record weather conditions; and study natural resources (i.e., identify sources and uses of water, demonstrate methods of conserving water and soil, and investigate properties of rocks and soil)
The Living Environment—Students observe plants and study their features; study the uses of plants; practice growing plants; and learn about themselves and other animals (i.e., acquire knowledge of body parts and their functions, and investigate the importance of animals and their habitats)
Health and Safety—Students learn about personal hygiene, safety, and food and nutrition (i.e., proper methods of preparing, preserving, and storing food, and healthy eating habits). Science is taught as a subject in Grades 5 to 7 (upper primary) in which the following topics and skills are covered:
Science and Society—Students learn about the nature of science (i.e., how scientific knowledge is developed and organized, and how to apply scientific principles to solving problems), the history of science, and technology in science
Nature and the Universe—Students learn about the environment, plants (i.e., the importance of photosynthesis, the cycle of flowering plants, and germination and seed dispersal), animals (i.e., classification and adaptation), air, water, weather, and the solar system
Matter and Energy—Students learn about matter, energy (i.e., different forms of energy, properties of heat and light, and the nature and uses of sound), and acids and bases
Force and Motion—Students learn about force (including its effects and applications) and levers and other simple machines
Electricity and Magnetism—Students learn about static electricity, current, magnets, and electromagnetism
Health and Safety—Students learn about food and nutrition, diseases (contagious and noncontagious), safety (including safety symbols), and alcohol and drug abuse
Body Systems—Students learn about human body systems (i.e., functions of the digestive, circulatory, reproductive, skeletal, and nervous systems and functions of major organs of the digestive system)
Reproductive Health—Students learn about physical development, the human reproductive system (i.e., reproduction in humans, stages of pregnancy, and problems of teenage pregnancy), sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV and AIDS

The lower secondary science syllabus¹³ is divided into units, which emphasize different skills. In Botswana, Grade 9 students participated in TIMSS 2015 at the eighth grade. The syllabus covers the following science skills and processes in Grade 9:

Science, Technology, and Society—Students learn about the nature of science, measurements (i.e., mass, temperature, density, scalars, vectors, time, volume, and length), and gene technology
Plants, Animals, and the Environment—Students learn about living matter, energy flow in living things, managing natural resources, ecosystems, and sexual reproduction in flowering plants
Materials and Their Properties—Students learn about the nature of matter, acids and bases, components of air, and construction materials
Reproductive Health—Students learn about human growth and development, family planning, problems of sexual behavior, and human development and care
Force, Motion, and Energy—Students learn about energy forms and energy changes, sound energy, and investigating forces, motion, properties of light, and heat energy
Health and Safety—Students learn about personal hygiene, communicable diseases, nutrition, drugs, and hygienic surroundings
The Human Body—Students learn about transporting substances in the human body, excretion, and communication in humans
Electricity and Magnetism—Students learn about electrical energy
The Solar System—Students learn about Earth systems