The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades

The science curriculum in Kuwait also underwent revision prior to 2008. The revised science curriculum was implemented gradually, beginning with Grades 1 to 3 in the 2008–2009 academic year, followed by Grades 4 to 7 in 2009–2010, Grade 8 in 2010–2011, and Grade 9 in 2011–2012. The revised science curriculum contains the basic concepts that comprised the previous curriculum, including international, structural, and cumulative concepts, but in the revised curriculum topics are presented in a way that allows deeper exploration of the scientific material.

By the end of Grade 4, students are expected to have studied the following science topics:

Life Sciences and the Environment—Personal hygiene, social interaction, and basic facts about animals, insects, plants, animal breeding, animal habitats, the human body, and the role of the sea
Natural Sciences—Light, sound, temperature, fire, magnetism, water, air, pollution, electricity, and transportation
Earth and Space Sciences—The Sun, the Moon, the seasons, rain, Earth’s gravity, and topics related to oil, including its sources, exploration, and benefits

By the end of Grade 8, students are expected to have studied some of the topics covered in the primary grades in greater depth. At this level, the curriculum is divided into three sections—Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Earth Sciences and Astronomy—and covers the following topics:

Life Sciences—Parts of the plant, photosynthesis, aquatic plants, environmental pollution, simple organisms, the relationship between man and microbes, infectious diseases and treatment, viruses, air and gases, tissue structure and cells, and HIV-AIDS, including protection against the disease
Natural Sciences—Elements and compounds, mixtures and solutions, features of materials, temperature, power and energy, magnetism, sound, acids, bases, salts, the atom, electricity, light, mass, and measurement
Earth Science and Astronomy—Earth, the Moon, stars, and the Sun; the solar system; man and the universe; air pressure; the seasons; and man and weather