INTRODUCTION

MOKALA PRIMARY SCHOOL
INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL SCIENCES

Purpose
The Natural Sciences Learning Area deals with the promotion of scientific literacy. It does this by:
■ the development and use of science process skills in a variety of settings;
■ the development and application of scientific knowledge and understanding; and
■ appreciation of the relationships and responsibilities between science, society and the environment.

Development of science process skills
The teaching and learning of science involves the development of a range of process skills that may be used in
everyday life, in the community and in the workplace. Learners can gain these skills in an environment that
supports creativity, responsibility and growing confidence. Learners develop the ability to think objectively and
use a variety of forms of reasoning while they use process skills to investigate, reflect, analyse, synthesise and
communicate

Development of scientific knowledge and understanding

Scientific knowledge and understanding is a cultural heritage that can be used to:
■ answer questions about the nature of the physical world;
■ prepare learners for economic activity and self-expression;
■ lay the basis for further studies in science; and
■ prepare learners for active participation in a democratic society that values human rights and promotes environmental responsibility.


Science and society

Science and technology have made a major impact, both positive and negative, on our world. Careful selection
of scientific content, and use of a variety of ways of teaching and learning science, should promote
understanding of:
■ science as a human activity;
■ the history of science;
■ the relationship between Natural Sciences and other Learning Areas;
■ the contribution of science to social justice and societal development;
■ responsibility to ourselves, society and the environment; and
■ the consequences of decisions that involve ethical issues

Unique Features and Scope

The Natural Sciences Learning Area Statement envisages a teaching and learning milieu which recognises that
the people of South Africa operate with a variety of learning styles as well as with culturally-influenced
perspectives. It starts from the premise that all learners should have access to a meaningful science education,
and that arbitrary selection and rejection based on various kinds of biases should be avoided. Meaningful
education has to be learning-centred and help learners to understand not only scientific knowledge and how it is
produced, but also the contextual environmental and global issues that are intertwined within the Learning
Area. The Natural Sciences Learning Area must be able to provide a foundation on which learners can build
throughout life.

The Natural Sciences offer us a particular way of understanding the world we live in. The Natural Sciences
Learning Area differs from other Learning Areas because of:
■ the way in which information is gathered and interpreted;
■ the way in which information is verified before general acceptance;
■ the acknowledgement of the limitations of scientific enquiry; and
■ the domain of knowledge that is covered.

The Natural Sciences Learning Area comprises a wide variety of fields of inquiry, ranging from the study of
how stars form to how microscopically small animals live, and from the study of crystals to understanding how
the climate of the earth is changing. These fields of inquiry need very different data and use very different
methods of investigation. So, while there are similarities in the ways scientists work, it is not possible to put all
science knowledge and activity together under a single heading. In this Revised National Curriculum Statement
the fields which scientists study have been grouped into four main content areas or knowledge strands:
■ Life and Living focuses on life processes and healthy living, on understanding balance and change in
environments, and on the importance of biodiversity.


■ Energy and Change focuses on how energy is transferred in physical and biological systems, and on the
consequences that human needs and wants have for energy resources.
■ Planet Earth and Beyond focuses on the structure of the planet and how the earth changes over time, on
understanding why and how the weather changes, and on the earth as a small planet in a vast universe.
■ Matter and Materials focuses on the properties and uses of materials, and on understanding their structure,
changes and reactions in order to promote desired changes.



Natural Sciences Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 1: Scientific Investigations

The learner will be able to act confidently on curiosity about natural phenomena, and to investigate
relationships and solve problems in scientific, technological and environmental contexts.


Learning Outcome 2: Constructing Science Knowledge
The learner will know and be able to interpret and apply scientific, technological and environmental
knowledge.


Learning Outcome 3: Science, Society and the Environment

The learner will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationships between science and
technology, society and the environment.
The three Learning Outcomes address different competencies and ideally should not overlap, so as to avoid
being confused during assessment. However, they do come together when extended tasks are designed for
learners, and it is normal for two or three of the Learning Outcomes to be seen in the same extended task.
Some Assessment Standards show links between the Learning Outcomes. For example, in Learning Outcome 2
learners might evaluate an investigation design to demonstrate their grasp of principles of investigations, and
in Learning Outcome 3 learners might compare reports of investigations to show how well they understand that
results are reported in different ways.