About the Science Course in Elementary School

Context and relevance. Traditional natural science courses in primary and secondary schools often focus on the transmission of ready-made scientific facts and concepts, which prevents children from independently solving problems and adapting to the rapidly changing scientific picture of the world. Purpose. Offer and describe the course "Introduction to Natural Science," aimed at teaching children the experimental method of natural sciences and the formation of the ability to consciously plan and conduct experiments to find answers to questions. Methods and materials. The method of training through the solution of a system of educational problems (developed by D. B. Elkonin and V. V. Davydov), where a training problem is considered as a search for a common solution for a class of problems. The training is built around the discovery of the experiment as the main way to resolve scientific disputes and build explanatory hypotheses-models. The use of materials from the field of physics, chemistry, biology, geology and astronomy, selected taking into account the age characteristics of children and sensual saturation. Practical application: working in groups, planning experiments using visual designations (symbols "hand" and "eye"), conducting experiments and discussing results. The educational and methodological kit (UMK) includes a methodological manual for the teacher, a notebook with a split album and a training guide for I-V classes. Results. First graders demonstrate the development of a new way of action: they move from verbal arguments to the need to conduct experiments to test hypotheses (for example, about germination of seeds). Fourth grade students are able to independently unfold the research thought, formulate and test successive hypotheses using the results of experiments (for example, the study of the buoyancy of an egg in salt water). Children develop a sustainable way to work with the unknown and the desire to independently get to the bottom of the problem. Conclusion. The course "Introduction to Natural Science" allows children to form the skills of the scientific method, teaching them not just facts, but ways to gain knowledge, which contributes to the development of creative and research thinking.