Spain Segundo de Primaria School Syllabus - Natural Science

This syllabus is based on the Real Decreto 157/2022, which outlines the curriculum for primary education in Spain. Specifically, this focuses on the subject "Conocimiento del Medio Natural, Social y Cultural" for the Segundo de Primaria cycle (second cycle).

Conocimiento del Medio Natural, Social y Cultural (Natural, Social and Cultural Knowledge)

This subject aims to equip students with the tools to develop into active, responsible, and respectful individuals, capable of transforming the world according to ethical and sustainable principles grounded in democratic values. It emphasizes a systemic understanding of the self and the surrounding environment, promoting a more just, supportive, egalitarian, and sustainable world. This includes recognizing diversity as multicultural wealth, peaceful conflict resolution, and the critical application of democratic mechanisms for citizen participation, all based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, constitutional principles, European values, and civic and social commitment.

Specific Competencies

1. Digital Competence: Students will use digital devices and resources safely, responsibly, and efficiently to search for information, communicate, and work individually, in teams, and in networks. They will also rework and create digital content according to the digital needs of the educational context.

2. Scientific Inquiry: Students will pose and answer simple scientific questions using various techniques, instruments, and models of scientific thought to interpret and explain events and phenomena occurring in the natural, social, and cultural environment.

3. Design and Computational Thinking: Students will solve problems through design projects and the application of computational thinking to cooperatively generate a creative and innovative product that responds to specific needs.

4. Health and Well-being: Students will develop an awareness of their own bodies, as well as their own and others' emotions and feelings, applying scientific knowledge to develop healthy habits and achieve physical, emotional, and social well-being.

5. Heritage and Environment: Students will identify the characteristics of different elements or systems of the natural, social, and cultural environment, analyzing their organization and properties and establishing relationships between them to recognize the value of cultural and natural heritage, conserve and improve it, and undertake actions for its responsible use.

6. Human Impact: Students will identify the causes and consequences of human intervention in the environment from social, economic, cultural, technological, and environmental perspectives to improve their ability to face problems, seek solutions, and act individually and cooperatively in their resolution, and to put into practice sustainable lifestyles consistent with respect, care, and protection of people and the planet.

7. Social and Cultural Change: Students will observe, understand, and interpret continuities and changes in the social and cultural environment, analyzing relationships of causality, simultaneity, and succession to explain and assess the relationships between different elements and events.

8. Diversity and Equality: Students will recognize and value diversity and gender equality, showing empathy and respect for other cultures and reflecting on ethical issues to contribute to the individual and collective well-being of a society in continuous transformation and to the achievement of the values of European integration.

9. Civic Participation: Students will participate in the environment and social life effectively and constructively, respecting democratic values, human and children's rights, and the principles and values of the Spanish Constitution and the European Union, valuing the role of the State and its institutions in maintaining peace and comprehensive citizen security, to generate respectful and equitable interactions and promote the peaceful and dialogued resolution of conflicts.

Evaluation Criteria (Segundo Ciclo - Second Cycle)

Competencia específica 1 (Specific Competency 1)

1.1 Use digital devices and resources, in accordance with the needs of the educational context, safely, searching for information, communicating, and working individually and in teams, reworking and creating simple digital content.

Competencia específica 2 (Specific Competency 2)

2.1 Ask questions and make reasoned predictions, demonstrating curiosity about the nearby natural, social, and cultural environment. 2.2 Search and select information from different safe and reliable sources, using it in research related to the natural, social, and cultural environment and acquiring basic scientific vocabulary. 2.3 Conduct guided experiments, when the research requires it, using different inquiry techniques and models, safely using instruments and devices, making accurate observations and measurements, and recording them correctly. 2.4 Propose possible answers to the questions posed, through the interpretation of the information and the results obtained, comparing them with the predictions made. 2.5 Present the results of the research in different formats, using basic scientific language and explaining the steps followed.

Competencia específica 3 (Specific Competency 3)

3.1 Build a simple final product as a team that solves a design problem, proposing possible solutions, testing different prototypes, and safely using the appropriate tools, techniques, and materials. 3.2 Present the final product of the design projects in different formats and explaining the steps followed. 3.3 Solve, in a guided way, simple programming problems, modifying algorithms according to the basic principles of computational thinking.

Competencia específica 4 (Specific Competency 4)

4.1 Show attitudes that promote emotional and social well-being, identifying one's own emotions and those of others, showing empathy and establishing healthy emotional relationships.

Competencia específica 5 (Specific Competency 5)

5.1 Identify the characteristics, organization, and properties of the elements of the natural, social, and cultural environment through inquiry and using the appropriate tools and processes. 5.2 Identify simple connections between different elements of the natural, social, and cultural environment, showing understanding of the relationships that are established. 5.3 Protect natural and cultural heritage and value it as a common good, adopting respectful behaviors for its enjoyment and proposing actions for its conservation and improvement.

Competencia específica 6 (Specific Competency 6)

6.1 Identify eco-social problems, propose possible solutions, and put sustainable lifestyles into practice, recognizing respectful behaviors of care, co-responsibility, and protection of the environment and sustainable use of natural resources, and expressing the positive and negative changes caused in the environment by human action.

Competencia específica 7 (Specific Competency 7)

7.1 Identify facts of the social and cultural environment from Prehistory to the Ancient Age, using the notions of causality, simultaneity, and succession. 7.2 Learn about people, relevant social groups, and ways of life in societies from Prehistory to the Ancient Age, incorporating a gender perspective.

Competencia específica 8 (Specific Competency 8)

8.1 Analyze the demographic, cultural, and economic importance of migrations today, valuing with respect and empathy the contribution of cultural diversity to individual and collective well-being. 8.2 Positively assess actions that promote gender equality and non-sexist behaviors, recognizing positive models throughout history.

Competencia específica 9 (Specific Competency 9)

9.1 Carry out activities in the context of the school community, assuming responsibilities and establishing agreements in a dialogic and democratic way, using inclusive and non-violent language. 9.2 Learn about the main governing bodies and functions of various public administrations and services, valuing the importance of their management for comprehensive citizen security and democratic participation. 9.3 Internalize basic rules for coexistence in the use of public spaces as pedestrians or users of means of transport, identifying traffic signals and becoming aware of the importance of safe, healthy, and sustainable mobility for both people and the planet.

Basic Knowledge (Segundo Ciclo - Second Cycle)

This section details the basic knowledge that students are expected to acquire during the second cycle of primary education, categorized into three blocks:

A. Scientific Culture

1. Introduction to Scientific Activity: This includes inquiry procedures, use of instruments and devices, scientific vocabulary, fostering curiosity and initiative, understanding science and technology professions from a gender perspective, and the importance of science and technology for sustainable living.

2. Life on Our Planet: This covers the kingdoms of nature, characteristics of animals and plants, ecosystems, functions and services of ecosystems, human relationship with ecosystems, landforms, and basic rock classification.

3. Matter, Forces, and Energy: This includes heat, reversible and irreversible changes in matter, contact and distance forces, properties of simple machines, and their applications in daily life.

B. Technology and Digitalization

1. Digitalization of the Personal Learning Environment: This involves using digital devices and resources, guided internet searches, basic safety and privacy rules for online navigation, digital communication resources, and strategies for promoting digital well-being.

2. Design Projects and Computational Thinking: This includes the phases of design projects, appropriate materials, cooperative techniques for teamwork, and introduction to programming through analog and digital resources.

C. Societies and Territories

1. Challenges of the Current World: This covers Earth and natural disasters, spatial knowledge and representation, climate and landscape, demographic challenges, social inequality and access to resources.

2. Societies in Time: This includes historical time, historical sources, research and work methods for projects, the role of individuals and social groups in history, artistic and cultural expressions, and natural and cultural heritage.

3. Civic Literacy: This involves commitments and rules for life in society, ethnocultural manifestations, Spain's political organization, the functioning of society, and road safety.

4. Eco-social Awareness: This covers climate change, eco-social responsibility, transformation and degradation of ecosystems, and sustainable lifestyles.