Elementary School Science and High School Physics Groups Pilot Grade 5 LMs

The Elementary School Science (ESS) and the High School Physics Groups (HSP) conducted pilot tests of Grade 5 learner’s materials (LMs) aligned with the Enhanced K to 12 Science Curriculum. For the ESS Group, a total of three learning modules were tried out at the Old Balara Elementary School (OBES) on 9-14 December 2015, 21-22 January 2016, and 25-29 January 2016. The modules focus on Grade 5 topics: Motion (a new addition to the K to 12 curriculum), Changes in the Weather, and Physical and Chemical Changes. The HSP Group, on the other hand, pilot-tested one module on Electric Circuits at OBES on 25-29 January 2016.

Grade 5 pupils examining the circuit in a flashlight.

The learner’s material on Motion is an introduction to the physical quantities associated with moving objects such as time and distance, and how the distance travelled over a period of time is measured. Experiments included in the module are intended to provide opportunities for the pupils to investigate the effect of variables, such as size of the wheel, weights of moving objects, and height of the ramp, on the motion of the object.

In the module Changes in the Weather, pupils will learn how to observe the changes that happen before, during, and after a typhoon. The pupils will then correlate their observations with information from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration regarding typhoon signals and the necessary precautions. The material on Physical and Chemical Changes focuses on pupils’ observation skills on the different changes that take place around them, and how physical and chemical changes differ from one another.

After conducting an investigation, pupils record their data.

The module on Electric Circuits involves pupils in constructing different connections using a dry cell, electrical wires, and a flashlight bulb, differentiating series and parallel connections, and investigating which materials allow electricity to flow through.

Insights gained during the tryout will be taken into consideration in the revision of the learner’s materials and in the development of the teacher’s guides. The next phase of the tryout is the pilot testing of the teacher’s guides where teachers of OBES themselves will be using the learning modules to teach the lesson.