Module 03: Science regarding science applications that will have

social, health, or environmental impacts.

Curriculum Framework Science is both content and process –
Unit One: Philippine Science Science content and science process are
intertwined. The worth of science processes is to
Curriculum Framework advance content or the body of data. Without
This science curriculum framework may content, students will have difficulty utilizing the
be a resource for curriculum developers, faculty of science process skills. Science processes cannot
teacher education institutions, teachers, school exist during a vacuum. They’re learned in context.
administrators, and policymakers to style,
implement, and assess the science curricula’
content. School science should emphasize depth rather
than breadth, coherence rather than
Specifically, the document will help
fragmentation, and use of evidence in
schools, teachers, and instructional materials
constructing explanation.
developers address the requirements of scholars to
organize them for the planet of labor, pursue their
interest in science and related fields, and become
responsible citizens. It emphasizes the necessity to School science should be relevant and
find out and use real-world contexts to reinforce useful – to be relevant and useful, science
learning, develop skills for independent study or teaching should be organized around situations,
self-learning, and inculcate students the love and problems, or projects that engage the learners both
desire to accumulate ‘learn the way to learn’ as an individual and a member of a team.
skills.
For school administrators, the science
curriculum framework will guide them in School science should nurture interest in
choosing quality instructional materials and learning – students are generally curious about
equipment for science teaching and learning. problems that puzzle them. They need a natural
urge to seek out solutions. Organizing the
This Framework also will inform
curriculum around problems or phenomena that
policymakers to formulate appropriate legislation
puzzle students help motivate them to find out.
to allocate resources to support quality science
education.

What is in the Framework?

The Guiding Principles of Science The curriculum framework is that the
Curriculum Framework overall structure for organizing learning and
teaching. It ensure that students’ learning
experiences are commensurate with their abilities
at different stages and with their ways of
Science is for everyone – this principle perceiving and learning about the planet. The
recognizes the proactive relationship between framework isn’t the curriculum itself. Rather, it’s
science and society. This suggest putting science a skeleton that gives the idea for robust,
into the service of people and society. Science organized, and cohesive curriculum.
education should aim for scientific literacy that’s
operational in understanding oneself, common Consistent with Bybee (1990), “a
human welfare, or not students pursue a university framework is just like the broad sketches of an
education, they ought to leave school with A level architect’s plan. The Framework gives an initial
of understanding and scientific literacy, which picture of the program and is predicated on certain
will prepare them to be told and participate specifications. The architect’s plan has got to
citizens ready to make judgments and decision fulfill certain requirements. At an equivalent time,
the more specific details are left to the contractors understanding of the large ideas of science over
and, therefore, the carpenters. Everyone knows the years instead of over week and months and
there’ll be modifications because the Framework therefore the importance of considering both
is devoted and implemented, but there should be content knowledge and its applications. It enables
some fidelity to the first intentions, specifications, students to progress smoothly though the grade
and style.” levels and avoids the main disjunctions between
stages of schooling evident in some previous
This Framework is organized around there
approaches to the curriculum. Thus, it provides
interlocking components, namely: (1) inquiry
the idea for continuity and consistency within the
skills, (2) scientific attitudes, and (3) content and
students’ basic education.
connections. Being interrelated, these components
are woven together to support the holistic Taken as an entire, students in each grade
development of scientifically literate individual. level study the three content areas (life science,
The Framework sets out what all students should physics, and earth and space science) in one
know, understand, value, and be ready to do from academic year. Such a corporation emphasizes
Grade 1-10 (G1-10) rather than Grades 1-Yea 4 to understanding the connections and
stress that there’s no break within the curriculum interrelationship of varied science concepts. This
continuum from grade school to high school. is often in contrast to the normal presentation of
science content as separate subjects where
Rather than being perspective, its basic
knowledge is taught to create mastery of a set of
purpose is to supply a structure around which
isolated facts, principles, and procedures.
educators, curriculum developers, textbook
writers, and teachers can develop instructional There are three overarching themes:
materials incorporating coherent learning maintaining healthiness and living safety, utilizing
activities and experiences that prepare students to energy and dealing with changes, and conserving
become scientifically literate during a dynamic, and protecting the environment. These themes are
rapidly changing, and increasingly technology utilized in various real-world context across grade
society. levels. The latter is keeping with the pervasive
trend in science education where the curriculum’s
The Framework includes the core content
main target is from content-focused science to at
that describes the main science concepts that each
least one that prepares students for better
one students are expected to find out to become
understanding and use of science in their lifestyle
scientifically literate also because the
(Frensham, 2006).
competencies that indicate what students should
be ready to do and demonstrate at the top of Grade
2, Grade 4, Grade 6, Grade 8 and Grade 10. As
such, its envisioned to supply a standard
curriculum direction so hard that a more even
spread of curriculum change are implemented to
the advantage of Filipino students.
The Framework has two key features,
which make it different from previous curriculum
documents within the Philippines: it specialize in
the cohesiveness of the three components, and its
Grade 10 approach. While particular grade levels
make unique contributions and should require
different approaches, the G1-10 approach adopted
by the Framework provides an image of the entire
span of scholars’ essential education. It encourage
a developmental and integrated approach ton
curriculum planning, teaching, and learning. It
addresses the necessity to develop students’
 DepEd K-12 Science Curriculum motivates them to find out and appreciate science
as relevant and useful. Instead of relying solely on
Framework
textbooks, varied hands-on, minds-on, and hearts-
Science education aims to develop on activities are going to be wont develop
scientific literacy among learners, which will learners’ interest and allow them to become active
prepare them to be knowledgeable and learners.
participative citizens who are ready to make
As a while, the K to 12 science curriculum
judgments and decisions regarding applications of
is learner-centered and inquiry-based,
knowledge domain that will have social, health, or
emphasizing the utilization of evidence in
environmental impacts.
constructing explanations. Concepts and skills in
The science curriculum recognizes the Life Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Earth
place of science and technology in everyday Sciences are presented with increasing levels of
human affairs. It integrates science and complexity from one grade level to a different in
technology within the social, economic, personal, spiral progression, thus paving the thanks to a
and ethical aspects of life. The science curriculum deeper understanding of core concepts. The
promotes a robust link between science and mixing across science topics and other disciplines
technology, including indigenous technology, thus will cause a meaningful understanding of concepts
preserving our country’s cultural heritage. and their application to real-life situations.
The K to 12 science curriculum will
provide learners with a range of competencies
important within the world of labor and during a
knowledge-based society. It envisions the event of
scientifically, technologically, and
environmentally literate and productive members
of society who are critical problem solvers,
responsible stewards of nature, innovative and
artistic citizens, informed decision-makers, and
effective communicators. This curriculum is
meant around the three domains of learning
science: understanding and applying knowledge
domain in local setting also as global context
whenever possible, performing scientific
processes and skills, and developing and
demonstrating scientific attitudes and values. The
acquisition of those domains is facilitated using
the subsequent approaches: multi/interdisciplinary
approach, science-technology-society approach,
contextual learning, problem/issue-based learning,
and inquiry-based approach. The approaches are
supported by sound educational pedagogy,
namely, constructivism, social cognition learning
model, learning style theory, and brain-based
learning.
Science content and science processes are
intertwined within the K to 12 Curriculum.
Without the content, learners will have difficulty
utilizing science process skills since these
processes are best learned in context. Organizing
the curriculum around situations and problems
that challenge and arouse learners’ curiosity
 Framework for Philippine Science 4. Upgrading the knowledge, skills, practices,
and attitudes of teachers is a private
Teacher Education
decision, but this is often sustained and
enhanced when the efforts are
collaborative and synergistic among the
Guiding Principles in the Development communities of teachers.
of the Framework for Science Teacher 5. Teachers are committed to extending their
Education knowledge improving their practice.
Therefore, teacher development should be
a lovely and reflective transformation of
Several documents were inclined to guide data and skills in actual contexts. Teacher
the event of the FSTE: the Proposed Science development activities should engage
Curriculum Framework for Basic Education, the teachers in active, interactive, problem-
National Competency-Based Standards, the oriented, hands-on, and artistic group
School-Based Training Standards, the Revised activities, rather than having teachers
Policies and Standards for Undergraduate Teacher passively receive new inputs. These
Education Curriculum, and therefore the National activities must also engage teachers in
Professional Standards of Highly Accomplished critical reflection on whether their current
Teachers of Science prepared by the Australian practices and beliefs cause effective
Science Teachers Association. Relevant articles student learning. Finally, these teacher
from the National Commission on Teaching and development activities must be
America’s Future were also mentioned when contextualized and situated in
formulating the guiding principles. environments that will support meaningful
teacher growth (NCBTS, 2005).
The guiding principles relevant to teachers, 6. Teacher-centered educational processes
science teaching, and science education are tend to develop low-levels of student
summarized below. involvement and interest within the
learning process and sometimes cause low-
1. Teacher education may be continuum that
levels of student learning (NCBTS, 200).
starts at the recruitment of high school
7. Learners develop concepts and skills from
students into the teacher education
engaging, meaningful, challenging, and
institutions (TEIs) and ends sometime
relevant experiences and from teachers
around retirement, or maybe even after.
who encourage them to construct their
2. The qualities of excellent science teaching
ideas (BST Standards, 2005 and therefore
can only be defined in terms of its effects
the SCFBE, 2010).
on the learner. Teachers must engage all
students in purposeful and successful
learning.
3. The knowledge and skills of effective
science teachers differ in fundamental
respects across subjects and contexts.
Hence, the necessity for subject-specific
standards. The standards will help teachers
work for a deeper understanding of their
subject and the way to show it. It’ll raise
levels of commitment to working
creatively and constructively with other
teachers. The standards will make them in
charge of what happens within the
classroom, also as for his or her
professional growth.
 Module 04: Contents of curiosity motivates them to learn and appreciate
science as relevant and useful. Rather than relying
Science in Elementary Grades solely on textbooks, varied hands-on, minds-on,
and hearts-on activities will be used to develop
Unit One: Contents of Science in learners’ interest and let them become active
Elementary Grades learners.

Science is very important to everyone. It As a whole, the K to 12 science curriculum

supports the development if scientific literacy in is learner-centered and inquiry-based,
all students as well as to encourage them to pursue emphasizing the use of evidence in constructing
careers in science and technology and explanations. Concepts and skills in Life Sciences,
engineering. Science Education is important and Physics, Chemistry, and Earth-Sciences are
useful because of its links to technology and presented with increasing levels of complexity
industry. It also affects national perspective in from one grade level to another in spiral
areas of high priority for development. progression, thus paving the way to a deeper
understanding of core concepts. The integration
It develops students’ scientific inquiry across science topics and other disciplines will
skills, values and attitudes, such as objectivity, lead to a meaningful understanding of concepts
curiosity and intellectual honesty and habits of and its application to real experiences.
mind including critical thinking. Those are useful
of individual student for his own personal
development, for life and career in the future. The Inquiry Skills of Science Education
Skills, values, attitudes and dispositions are useful
to the community where the student belongs. The in Elementary Level (Science
learning of science as a subject brings the nation’s Curriculum Framework for Basic
cultural development and preservation of cultural Education)
identify. It is most useful to a nation’s even it is
utilized to solve its own problems and challenges,
keeping a nation’s cultural identity. Thus is some
countries, science teaching-learning is associated
with culture.
The accomplishments of a few students are
overshadowed by the poor performance of the
Filipino students in the international level and
assessment studies. It is also reveals that Filipino
learners have low retention of concepts, they have
limited reasoning and analytic skills and poor
comprehension. (UP NISMED, 2004).

Contents of Science Teaching in the

Elementary Level
Based from the DepEd’s competencies of
teaching elementary science, the content and
science processes are intertwined in the K to 12
Curriculum. Without the content, learners will
have difficulty utilizing science process skills
since these processes are best learned in context.
Organizing the curriculum around situations and
problems that challenge and arouse learners’
 people who suggest innovative and relevant ways
to solve problems.
Scientific Attitudes
Science Curriculum Framework involves
the development of certain attitudes in learners. Intellectual Honesty
These refers to values and habits of mind which
Being honest means being truthful. Thus,
are especially important in science and are
being intellectually honest means not copying
necessary if students are to become lifelong
someone else’s work and claiming it to be one’s
learners and productive citizens. Such attitudes
own. It means recording each and every
should be developed from Grade 1 up to Grade 10
observation and not selecting only those that
as they are crucial in helping students appreciate
supports one’s hypothesis. It means reporting the
the pleasure of learning to learn and or to reduce
actual results of an investigation and not leaving
their dependency on transmissions of knowledge.
out those that challenge one’s premises. Being
intellectually honest means not misleading others
to achieve personal goals.
Critical Thinking
The development of inquiry skills
contributes towards development of critical Accuracy
thinking skills are not taught directly. They are
In the course of schoolwork, students are
developed through inquiry activities that students
expected to observe, describe, and measure. They
engage in and through their attempts to explain the
are required to record everything and
outcomes of their investigations using evidence
communicate what they have learned. If the
and logical argument. When making comparisons,
students are careless in their measurements and
they learn to recognize when a comparison might
sloppy in their recordkeeping, then the results of
be unfair because the conditions were not kept the
their inquiry may not be reliable. Students should
same.
strive to be accurate at all times. Which may be
The development of critical thinking in the broadly defined as free from mistakes or blunders
elementary grades begins when the teacher asks as the result of being careful.
the students “How do you know?” and they give
reasonable answers. They accept answer that are
supported by observations, facts found in books or Objectivity
from other reliable sources. They learn to rely on
evidence to support their statements. An objective person is able to deal with
facts or conditions as they are, without being
swayed by his personal feelings, prejudices, and
expectations. While it may be impossible for
Creativity
someone to totally impartial, people should be
Many people think that creativity resides aware that their personal biases may color their
only in artists. But anyone can be creative, no judgment, and the observations and finding that
matter which field he is in, so long as he is able to they report may be tainted with distortions arising
use his imagination. A creative person is someone from personal beliefs or preconceived notions. An
who is always trying to cook up something new or objective person always validates observations
different. Perhaps it’s a faster or safer way of and explanations.
doing something. Perhaps it’s a cheaper product or
a different solution to a problem. That something
may come from putting two (or more) thinks Independent Thinking
together in a novel way, or from seeing
connections between ideas that seem unrelated, or An independent thinker is one who tries to
from simply changing one’s perspective. Society answer questions on his own, using observations
will certainly benefit from the artwork of creative and experiences. He does not simply accept the
ideas and opinions of others. He look for relevant doing so, describe the kind of weather or certain
data and information and then makes up his own events in the home or school and express how
mind. Independent thinking does not mean you do these are affecting them, do simple measurements
not need the help of others. It just means does not of length, tell why some things around them are
form an opinion or conclusion based on what important , decide if what they do is safe or
others think or say. Just because everybody dangerous; give suggestions on how to prevent
accidents at home, practice electricity, water, and
believes in something does not mean one has
paper conservation, help take care of pets or of
believe in it, too. An independent thinker uses his
plants , and tell short stories about what they do,
own mind, even if that leads to mistakes. what they have seen, or what they feel.

Grade Level Standard Grade Three – At the end of Grade 3, learners

can describe the functions of the different parts of
(The following standards are based from the K-12 the body and things that make up their
Guide (2016) surroundings --- rocks and soil, plants and
animals, the Sun, Moon and stars. They can also
Kinder - The learners will demonstrate an classify these things as solid, liquid or gas. They
emerging understanding of the parts of their body can describe how objects move and what makes
and their general functions; plants, animals and them move. They can also identify sources and
varied materials in their environment and their describe uses of light, heat, sound, and electricity.
observable characteristics; general weather Learners can describe changes in the conditions of
conditions and how these influence what they their surroundings. These would lead learners to
wear; and other things in their environment. become more curious about their surroundings,
Understanding of their bodies and what is around appreciate nature, and practice health and safety
them is acquired through exploration, questioning, measures.
and careful observation as they infer patterns,
similarities, and differences that will allow them
to make sound conclusions. Grade Four – At the end of Grade 4, learners
can investigate changes in some observable
Grade One - At the end of Grade 1, learners properties of materials when mixed with other
will use their senses to locate and describe the materials or when force is applied on them. They
external parts of their body; to identify, external can identify materials that do not decay and use
parts of animals and plants; to tell the shape, this knowledge to help minimize waste at home,
color, texture, taste, and size of things around school, and in the community. Learners can
them; to describe similarities and differences describe the functions of the different internal
given two objects; to differentiate sounds parts of the body in order to practice ways to
produced by animals, vehicles cars, and musical maintain good health. They can classify plants and
instruments; to illustrate how things move; to, animals according to where they live and observe
describe the weather and what to do in different interactions among living things and their
situations; to use appropriate terms or vocabulary environment. They can infer that plants and
to describe these features; to collect, sort, count, animals have traits that help them survive in their
draw, take things apart, or make something out of environment. Learners can investigate the effects
the things; to practice healthy habits (e.g., washing of push or pull on the size, shape, and movement
hands properly, choosing nutritious food) and of an object. Learners can investigate which type
safety measures (e.g., helping to clean or pack of soil is best for certain plants and infer the
away toys, asking questions and giving simple importance of water in daily activities. They
answers/ descriptions to probing questions). learned about what makes up weather and apply
their knowledge of weather conditions in making
decisions for the day. They can infer the
Grade Two – At the end of Grade 2, learners importance of the Sun to life on Earth
will use their senses to explore and describe the
functions of their senses, compare two or more
objects and using two or more properties , sort Grade Five – At the end of Grade 5, learners
things in different ways and give a reason for can decide whether materials are safe and useful
by investigating about some of their properties.
They can infer that new materials may form when
there are changes in properties due to certain
conditions. Learners have developed healthful and
hygienic practices related to the reproductive
system after describing changes that accompany
puberty. They can compare different modes of
reproduction among plant and animal groups and
conduct an investigation on pollination. They have
become aware of the importance of estuaries and
intertidal zones and help in their preservation.
Learners can describe the movement of objects in
terms of distance and time travelled. Learners
recognize that different materials react differently
with heat, light, and sound. They can relate these
abilities of materials to their specific uses.
Learners can describe the changes that earth
materials undergo. They can make emergency
plans with their families in preparation for
typhoons. They can observe patterns in the natural
events by observing the appearance of the Moon.

Grade Six - At the end of Grade 6, learners

recognize that when mixed together, materials
may not form new ones thus these materials may
be recovered using different separation
techniques. They can prepare useful mixtures such
as food, drinks and herbal medicines. Learners
understand how the different organ systems of the
human body work together. They can classify
plants based on reproductive structures, and
animals based on the presence or lack of
backbone. They can design and conduct an
investigation on plant propagation. They can
describe larger ecosystems such as rainforests,
coral reefs, and mangrove swamps. Learners can
infer that friction and gravity affect how people
and objects move. They have found out that heat,
light, sound, electricity, and motion studied earlier
are forms of energy and these undergo
transformation. Learners can describe what
happens during earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions and demonstrate what to do when they
occur. They can infer that the weather follows a
pattern in the course of a year. They have learned
about the solar system, with emphasis on the
motions of the Earth as prerequisite to the study of
seasons in another grade level.