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Northern Ireland

The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades

The science curriculum for students assessed in TIMSS 2015 was the Northern Ireland Curriculum, introduced in the 2007–2008 school year. The legislative basis for the curriculum is provided by the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Education (Curriculum Minimum Content) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007. The curriculum for Key Stages 2 and 3 is outlined below.

At Key Stage 2, the statutory minimum curriculum specifies seven areas of learning, and includes The World Around Us as one area of learning. The minimum content for The World Around Us is as follows.7

Through the contributory elements of history, geography, and science and technology, teachers help students develop knowledge, understanding, and skills through exploring the following:

  • Interdependence
    • How one interacts with others in the world
    • How living things rely on each other within the natural world
    • The interdependence of people and the environment, and how this has been accelerated over time by advances in transport and communications
    • The effect of people on the natural and built environment over time
  • Place
    • How place influences the nature of life
    • Ways in which people, plants, and animals depend on features and materials in places and how they adapt to their environment
    • Features of and variations among places, including physical, human, climatic, vegetation, and animal life
    • Our place in the universe
    • Change over time in places
    • Positive and negative effects of natural and human events upon places over time
  • Movement and Energy
    • Causes and effects of energy, forces, and movement
    • Causes that effect the movement of people and animals
    • How movement can be accelerated by human and natural events such as wars, earthquakes, famine, or floods
    • Positive and negative consequences of movement and its impact on people, places, and interdependence
  • Change Over Time
    • How change is a feature of the human and natural world and may have consequences for our lives and the world around us
    • Ways in which change occurs over both short and long periods of time in the physical and natural worlds
    • The effects of positive and negative changes globally, and how we contribute to some of these changes

At Key Stage 3, the statutory minimum curriculum specifies nine areas of learning, and includes science and technology as one area. Science and technology comprises two subject strands: science, and technology and design. The minimum content for science is set out below.8 Students should have opportunities through specified contexts to do the following:

  • Develop these skills in scientific methods of inquiry to further scientific knowledge and understanding
    • Planning for investigations
    • Obtaining evidence
    • Presenting and interpreting results
  • Develop creative and critical thinking in their approach to solving scientific problems
  • Research scientific information using a range of sources
  • Develop a range of practical skills, including the safe use of science equipment
  • Learn about:
    • Organisms and health
      • Interdependence of plants and animals
      • Cells, genes, and reproduction
      • Healthy body and mind
    • Chemical and material behavior
      • Atoms and chemical changes
      • Structures, properties, and uses of materials
      • Elements, compounds, and mixtures
    • Forces and energy
      • Forces and energy transfer
      • Using electricity
      • Sound and light
    • Earth and the universe
      • The environment and human influences
      • The solar system and the universe

The minimum content sets out the contexts in which these opportunities should be provided, organized around three main objectives:

  • Helping students develop as individuals
  • Helping students develop as contributors to society
  • Helping students develop as contributors to the economy and the environment

The minimum content also specifies learning outcomes. At the end of Key Stage 3, students are expected to be able to:

  • Demonstrate a range of practical skills in undertaking experiments, which include implementing scientific equipment safely and performing mathematical calculations appropriately
  • Use investigative skills to explore scientific issues, solve problems, and make informed decisions
  • Research and manage information effectively, using mathematics and ICT where appropriate
  • Show deeper scientific understanding by thinking critically and flexibly, solving problems, and making informed decisions, using mathematics and ICT where appropriate
  • Demonstrate creativity and initiative when developing ideas and following through on them
  • Work effectively with others
  • Demonstrate self management by working systematically, persisting with tasks, and evaluating and improving their own performance
  • Communicate effectively in oral, visual, written, mathematical, and ICT formats, showing clear awareness of audience and purpose

The CCEA provides guidance and additional resources to support teachers in implementing the curriculum, which they may follow if they wish.9