Switzerland Primary School Curriculum - Natural Sciences (5th/6th Grade)

Primary school in Switzerland starts around age 6 and lasts for eight to nine years. For the first six years, students typically have one teacher who teaches all subjects. Natural sciences are taught as part of the core curriculum, integrated with other subjects like mathematics and humanities.

The curriculum varies slightly between cantons, but generally includes mathematics and natural sciences, social sciences and humanities (geography, history, ethics, etc.), language of instruction, foreign languages, music, art, and physical education. In Zurich, for example, the subjects are grouped into "Nature, human, society" (history, geography, nature, engineering, and life skills) and "Language."

The "Lehrplan 21" is the curriculum framework used in German-speaking Switzerland. French-speaking cantons use the "Plan d'études romand (PER)," and Italian-speaking cantons use the "Piano di studio." These frameworks define the educational concepts, objectives, and weekly teaching periods per subject and class.