NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION IN A COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL

4-10

Authors: Jūratė Armonienė

Analysis, based on publications and scientific research of Lithuanian and foreign authors, presents the realia of health status and physical activity of young people. Scientific evidence has become compelling that sedentary lifestyle carries a risk for the development of coronary artery diseases, obesity, hypertension and other chronic diseases of adulthood. This article introduces the basic health–promoting activities and the Project “February – the month of Fitness“ implemented in Vilnius Jonas Basanavičius gymnasium. It is being organised for five years and involves all members of school society, guests and members of various educational institutions and non-governmental organizations. Guest from „ECO point“ and Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine took part in seminars and events organised during the projects. Those, who wanted to avoid heart and coronary artery diseases, were introduced to a booklet „The code of healthy European“. Consequently, in order to reinforce physical education also one of the key subjects at school is constantly looking for various ways to meet the student`s innate need to move, experience the joy of movement and to provide more opportunities through sports events and other projects. Indeed, it is aimed to involve the entire school community in this activity. Interest in physical activity is developed through socialisation and communication.

15-20

Authors: Gintarė Jurgaitienė, Silvija Kazakevičienė

A Natural Science Education is important to every human being because it helps us to understand the surrounding world, realise the systems and processes of care of the life in our environment. It helps to apply the knowledge in our everyday routines and in professional activities responsibly. The learning (studying) is knowledge, observation and experiments. The observation complements the theoretical knowledge, develops the abilities to apply them in practice. Accomplishing the observations, students experience the joy of discovering. (Gurevičiūtė.1998). Observation gives the knowledge about the nature and it helps students to recognize and discover themselves. It develops the scientific thinking and work skills. On purpose to engage students in the educational materials and to achieve the results what the teaching curriculum demands the teacher is supposed to find different methods and ways of teaching and education which the expectative results could bring. The research material of National students’ achievements motivates to search for the new working forms with students. With reference to the conclusions of the research material of National students’ achievements (2006) it’s true to say students can’t apply their knowledge in practice and in real life. One of the ways to solve this problem is the cognitive education of students’ abilities – the practical activities in the educational process. Choosing this way a teacher needs to work untraditionally: to involve students into the process of the education and observation, to act together in the exploratory and wait its results; to fix, observe, analyse, communicate and collaborate. Every teacher concerns that his/her subject would be interesting and attractive to a student. He or she wants the teaching material could be visual, fitting for a child‘s age, comprehensible, interesting and delightful with the final results. During the practice of my work I notice that the effective teaching and good results could be achieved while studying one theme some teaching methods of practical activities are applied; and one of them is when a student could teach contemporaries. Students are active all the time applying such methods of practical activities; and the learning doesn’t become long and boring. It motivates to concern with how the cognitive process would develop further. The reflection of students gives nice results as well: students can explain in their own words what the observation they did; they can analyse and make conclusions. In this article we have presented one example of the practical teaching method – observation in Science lessons. Accomplishing the observation we consolidate knowledge about the sowing, growing and care of plants; theoretical knowledge was applied in practice. We have learnt to observe, fix proceedings and make conclusions. Advantages of practical activities and observations are the increase of the motivation of students and the improved education of their different capacities and competences. It is more interesting to work personally. The proper preparation for the practical activities leads to more effective work. The tasks have to fit the level of knowledge and abilities of students. Students have to understand what they are doing. So the tasks must be concrete and formulated clearly. A perfect knowledge of the subject is necessary for the proper preparation. Accomplishing observations the gifted students must be encouraged to share their works with the other contemporaries and participate in the conferences and contests.

26-37

Authors: Angelija Mačiukaitė

The paper reviews research carried out between 2009 and 2010. The research was aimed at revealing the following: 1) opinions of primary mainstream school students on the subject World Study and educational environment; 2) opinions of primary school teachers on preparation for classes in the subject World Study and difficulties in organising the process of teaching and learning in the classroom with SEN students. 370 primary school students and 62 primary mainstream school teachers participated in the research. The research was carried out by means of a questionnaire. Primary school students said that they rather liked the subject World Study than disliked it. Students with a greater degree of SEN have a lower interest in the surrounding world. Most students, those with SEN among them, evaluated their studies of the subject positively, while a small part of the students, those with SEN among them, expressed a negative opinion about their work. Activities most preferred by the students during the classes are discussions, experiments, group work, and games; however, students with SEN less often participate in even their favourable activities. It was established that half of the teachers who participated in the research expressed an opinion that they experienced difficulties in preparing for the classes on World Study for the inclusive classrooms; these are difficulties in choosing teaching aids and methods, preparing tasks for independent work. The process of education in inclusive classrooms, in teachers’ opinion, poses difficulties which are more connected with coordination of education of different ability students, providing individual support, attentiveness to the child and stimulation of motivation. It is more difficult to be attentive to every child when the number of students with SEN is greater. The process of teaching the subject is also made more difficult by the fact that students with SEN are rarely active and cannot work independently.

47-52

Authors: Laimutė Salickaitė-Bunikienė, Irena Stankevičienė, Julia Baniukevič

The main aim of the science promotion project "Watch. Learn. Create” was to prepare and publish educational books ("Watch and learn. Research in nature ", authors Laimutė Salickaitė-Bunikienė, Stasė Mažeikaitė Elena Motiejūnienė Rita Šulijienė, Marytė Šimelionytė, the second part of "Watch and learn”: “Etnochemistry exercises and water ", the authors Laimutė Salickaitė-Bunikienė, Asta Eidukaitienė, a book for recreational activities "The World of figure of yarns", the authors Ludmila N. Sask Gennady A. Branicki) and organize training seminars for non-formal education and general education teachers, workshops for schoolchildren, teachers and students, practical training camps “Monitoring, research and evaluation of the processes occurring in nature during the fall” in Vilnius (LMNŠC) and in Lazdijai A. Gustaičio gymnasium, together with the authors of the books. The event was intended to provide practical skills, develop expertise and promote environment research methods and creative techniques for using then. Study books published within project are valuable tools for eco-clubs and educational activities in schools, directing talented young people towards science and technology studies.

60-67

Authors: Violeta Šlekienė, Loreta Ragulienė, Vincentas Lamanauskas

Interdisciplinary natural science education relations are developed mostly between biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and information technologies. The teachers have to convey education content, consisting of separate concepts, laws, theories as a harmonious whole, revealing interrelation between the analysed phenomena. Organising natural science teaching in this way, the teaching material is reorganised, systemised. Solving interdisciplinary integration problems, active communication and cooperation is going on between individual natural science teachers. Seeking to generally and newly look at the natural science teaching and learning process, grounded on interdisciplinary relations, interdisciplinary experiments are carried out. Water salinity research has been chosen, because in this topic analysis, rather wide integration possibilities are discerned. Physics teacher together with the pupils would deepen the knowledge of conductivity, electrolytes, electric current in the electrolytes, chemistry teachers – of electrolytic dissociation, solution concentration, mathematics teachers - would remember percent calculation, linear equation analysis, biology teachers – about water salinity effect on the man and on the environment surrounding him. In the article, lesson organisation and research performance methodics is discussed, the essence of practical work is explained, tasks and examples are presented. Several different subject (physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics) teachers could participate in the lesson, which could form the conditions not in disintegrated way, but systematically convey the pupils the essence of the analysed phenomenon.

71-79

Authors: Goda Stonkuvienė

The method of the project, like most of activities integrational method is described emphasizing educated competencies, excluding many needed meaningful assumptions to educate personal skills, personal features, stimulating its active position in the aspect of the analysed problem. Nature protection, ecological environmental education field, which is related to real knowing nature environmental, to protect and take care with related activities, seeking to cherish for children moral values and habits of behavior in interaction with nature and it is very favorable educational projects to aim it already in pre-school education process. In the article is described the expierence of project „EKOtrain“, emphasizing its idea and organizing educational aspects in pre-school groups for children, also it is given detail EKOtrain route, by which children traveled and solved important ecological environmental problems. At the stations of childrens activities included environmental fields as: saving of electricity energy, water saving, recycling, ecology in the mode of life. Participation in the project had impact for developing various competencies because there was raised problematical questions, stimulating them to talk, tell, communicate between them, observe, examine, experiment, to take desicions. While children were traveling by EKOtrain,they experienced a lot of fun and happy moments. Project also encouraged the society of institution to join this project. EKOtrain idea is developing and realising in the other age group activities. In this project actively participated and parents, micro districts parish where was the exhibition of childrens works, which were made during project.

84-99

Authors: Sergey V.Teleshov, Elena V.Teleshova

Each teacher shall have the right to know the history of the courses of science and methodology of their own subject. It is important to know their development in the past and present. This is necessary even pragmatically - not to reinvent those methods that have already been opened by their predecessors. Indifference, neglect and authoritative shout - this is the atmosphere into which was immersed Russian teacher for decades, since the inception of the school. Little has changed in this century. Nevertheless, let’s try to rise above human passions and follow the path that in large part was done by us together. This experience is our common heritage. Get from it the maximum benefit. The proposed material is enclosed in a condensed form the path of the Russian methods of teaching chemistry since 1746 by 2015 with all the UPS and downs.