With Objectives in Mind

The Science 5/13 book With objectives in mind states the education convictions underpinning the project as being that:
• In general, children work best when trying to find answers to problems that they have themselves chosen to investigate.
• There problems are best drawn from their own environment and tackled largely by practical investigations.
• Teachers should be responsible for thinking out and putting into practice the work of their own classes.
• In order to do so they should be able to find help there they need it.

The book also introduces the objectives for children learning science. The overall aim of the Science 5/13 project is stated as ‘developing an enquiring mind and a scientific approach to problems.’ This is divided into the broad aims of:
• Developing interests, attitudes and aesthetic awareness
• Observing, exploring and ordering observations
• Developing basic concepts and logical thinking
• Posing questions and developing experiments or investigations to answer them
• Acquiring knowledge and learning skills
• Communicating
• Appreciating patterns and relationships
• Interpreting findings critically

Under each of these headings objectives are set out at three stages:
Stage 1: divided into two parts: Transition from intuition to concrete operations (infants generally) and Concrete operations (early stage)
Stage 2: Concrete operations (later stage)
Stage 3: Transition to stage of abstract thinking.

Contents
Prologue
1. The problem as we see it
2. Children developing
3. The contribution of science to early education
4. Our selection of objectives for children learning science
5. The Units, their development and use
6. Children from eleven to thirteen
Appendix: List of Units
Objectives for children learning science – Guidelines to keep in mind

• URL: http://stem.org.uk/rx4w5