SGBox Science Curriculum For 5th Grade And 6th Grade / Primary 5 And Primary 6 (2-year Course)

1. provide your child with experiences which build upon his interest in and stimulate his curiosity about his environment
2. provide your child with scientific concepts to help him understand himself and the world around him
3. provide your child with opportunities to develop skills, habits of mind and attitudes necessary for scientific enquiry
4. prepare your child toward using scientific knowledge and methods in making personal decisions
5. help your child appreciate how science and technology influence people and the environment
   
   

1. Diversity
   Your child should appreciate that there is a great variety of living and non-living things in the world. Man seeks to organise this great variety to better understand the world in which he lives. There are common threads that connect all living things and unifying factors in the diversity of non-living things that help him to classify them.
2. Cycles
   Your child should recognise that there are repeated patterns of change in nature and understand how these patterns arise. Examples of these cycles are the day and night cycle, life cycles of living things and the recycling of resources. Studying these cycles helps Man to predict events and processes and to understand the Earth as a self-sustaining system.
3. Systems
   Your child should recognise that a system is a whole consisting of parts that work together to perform a function. There are systems in nature as well as man-made systems. Parts of a system influence one another. Two or more systems can interact with one another to perform a function. Examples of systems in nature are the digestive systems and respiratory systems. Examples of man-made systems are the mechanical and electrical systems.
4. Interactions
   Your child should appreciate that a study of the interactions between and within systems helps Man to gain better control of his environment. There are many types of interactions. There are interactions between the living world and the environment at various levels; i.e. interactions which occur within an organism, between organisms as well as between organisms and the environment. There are also interactions between forces and objects. At the societal level, the interaction of Man with his environment drives the development of Science and Technology. At the same time, Science and Technology influences the way Man interacts with his environment.
5. Energy
   Your child should appreciate that energy affects both living and non-living things. There are many forms of energy and one form can be converted to another. Man uses energy in many ways. Living things procure energy and use it to carry out life processes. Energy makes changes and movement possible in everyday life.

SGBox^® Science Curriculum^™ For 5th Grade And 6th Grade / Primary 5 And Primary 6 seeks to develop basic process skills and the use of these skills in more complex integrated processes, including:

1. Basic process skills
   1. Observing
      This is the skill of using our senses to gather information about objects or events. This also includes the use of instruments to extend the range of our senses.
   2. Comparing
      This is the skill of identifying the similarities and differences between two or more objects, concepts or processes.
   3. Classifying
      This is the skill of grouping objects or events based on common characteristics.
   4. Measuring and using apparatus
      This is the skill of knowing the functions and limitations of various apparatus, and developing the ability to select and handle them appropriately for various tasks.
   5. Communicating
      This is the skill of transmitting and receiving information presented in various forms - verbal, tabular, graphical or pictorial.
   6. Analysing
      This is the skill of identifying the parts of objects, information or processes, and the patterns and relationships between these parts.
   7. Generating
      This is the skill of adding to, extending or connecting given ideas by tapping into prior knowledge or gathered information.
   8. Evaluating
      This is the skill of assessing the reasonableness, accuracy and quality of information, processes or ideas. This is also the skill of assessing the quality and feasibility of objects.
2. Integrated processes
   Integrated processes are complex operations which call upon the use of several basic process skills, including:
   1. Creative problem solving
      This is a process of analysing a problem and choosing a novel but relevant solution in order to remedy or alter a problem situation.
   2. Decision-making
      Decision-making is the process of establishing and applying criteria to select from among seemingly equal alternatives. The process of establishing criteria involves consideration of the consequences and values.
   3. Investigation
      This involves formulating questions or hypotheses, devising fair methods and carrying out those methods to find out answers to the questions or to verify the hypotheses.