SCIENCE

EDUCATION
IN FINLAND
GROUP 6
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT the
01 curriculum
03 Assessment
ABOUT THE
02 TEXTBOOK
01
About the
curriculum
 Key goals

Schools the reform

provide opportunities for enhancing pupil participation,
experimentation, increasing the meaningfulness of
exploration, active learning, learning and enable every pupil
physical activity and play. to feel successful.
 Children and young people
be encouraged to take
more responsibilities for
schoolwork The foundation
be given more support The pupils' experiences,
in their studies feelings, areas of
interest and interaction
with others lay the
The pupils foundation for learning
set goals
solve problems
 assess their learning
based on set targets.
The teacher's task is to instruct and guide the
pupils into becoming lifelong learners, by
taking the individual learning approaches of
each pupil into consideration.
 According to
the curriculum
Each student has to have a project-based learning
module at least once a year. What this means
more concretely is to be more clearly defined
by individual municipalities.
 TIME
● There are a total of 190 school
days in a Finnish school year.
● School year starts in the middle
of August and ends in May.
● Finnish kids have about 10
weeks of summer holiday as
well as holidays in autumn,
Christmas break and winter
usually in February.
 At age 6
Children have the option of attending one year of
government-provided pre-primary school, and 96% of
students attend. Class sizes are limited to 20 and
recommended to have no more than 12 students.

At age 7
all students begin nine years of mandatory
basic education before entering upper
secondary school for three years of either
vocational or general education
Allocation of science
subjects to grades
Each lesson is 45 minutes

lesson hours or 45 min/week in

comprehensive school

School days:
< five lessons for children: first and second
grade classes
seven lessons for older schoolchildren.
 The Science Curriculum
in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades

biology geography PHYSICS chemistry Health edu

1st grade 4th grade

Environmental and Natural Studies

AS

INTEGRATED SUBJECT
Students come to know and
understand nature and the
manmade environment,
themselves and other people,
human diversity, and health
and disease.
INSTRUCTION  in environmental and natural
studies
 starting points include
students’ existing

knowledge
skills problem-
investigative centered
things approach
phenomena
 From the fifth through ninth grades
 science is taught as separate subjects

biology
geography physics

chemistry health
The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades
 THE CORE CONTENTS
During the first four years, the core content of studies in environmental and natural studies
INCLUDES:
Organisms and Living
Environments

Immediate Environment, Home

Region, and the Globe as Human
Living Environments

Natural Phenomena

Substances Around Us

The Individual and Health

Safety
Organisms and Living
Environments
The basic features of living and nonliving
things; various living environments and the
adaptation of organisms to them; common
species of plants, fungi, and animals in the
students’ immediate environment; nature
through the seasons; life stages of flora and
fauna; and sources and production of food
Immediate Environment, Home Region,
and the Globe as Human Living
Environments
The immediate environment; times of the
day and the seasons; maps and main
features of the terrain; home region and
province: natural conditions, landscapes,
manmade environment, and human
activity; and Finland, the Nordic
countries, other nearby regions, and the
globe as places where people live
 Natural Phenomena
Phenomena related to sound and light;
protection of hearing and eyesight;
phenomena related to heat; heat sources;
functioning principles of simple devices; the
strength of various structures; and magnetic
and electrical phenomena
Substances Around Us
Substances and materials that are parts of
everyday life; recycling and
conservation; properties of air;
combustion and fire safety; properties
and changes of state of water; utilization
of water; and the water cycle
The Individual and
Health
The human body and the stages of human growth and
development in general terms; everyday health habits and
caring for one’s health; being ill and common children’s
diseases; emergency preparedness and simple first-aid
measures; and the importance of family, friendship,
interaction, and the recognition of one’s own feelings to
one’s well-being and mental health
 SAFETY
Preventing bullying and violence, respecting
physical inviolability, safety in school, behavior in
traffic, and avoiding dangerous situations and
accidents at home and in leisure time; and
agreements and rules, good manners and taking
other people into account, using money, and
respecting the property of others
The education providers and the
schools themselves draw up their
own curricula within the framework
of the national core curriculum.
 The pisa competencies

scientific Situations /
Attitudes
processes contexts
 attitudes
● Experiential learning creates the joy of ● Interest in nature and its phenomena …
learning and influences pupils’ interest … relation to nature ….
● Support and selection of teaching ● The pupils are guided towards a
methods, participation in the planning of sustainable way of living and
activities understanding global responsibility
● Guide pupils to perceive the significance ● Significance of physics in building a
of their competence in chemistry, … also sustainable future
for further studies. ● Students are guided to take
● To encourage and inspire the pupils to responsibility for their environment …
study chemistry make choices …
 Scientific processes

● Apply biological knowledge in his/her

life and discussion ● Formulate questions about
● Use different models in describing and phenomena in focus … further
explaining phenomena and in making develop questions to serve as a basis
predictions for inquiry
● Use different kind of models to ● Develop scientific thinking and
describe and explain the structure of recognise causal relationship
matter and chemical phenomena ● Process, interpret and present.
● Grow plants to understand biological
phenomena
 Situations or Contexts

● Use of biological knowledge in your

own life, … function of the body
● Need to develop technological ● Use of biological knowledge decision
solutions and to secure the well-being making and development of
of humans and the environment surrounding
● Chemistry is needed in securing the ● Build a sustainable future Process,
well-being of humans interpret and present.
● Use of biological knowledge in ethical ● Significance of physics and
reflection … sustainable way of living technology in daily life …
● Chemistry has an important role in ● Chemistry is needed in developing
building a sustainable future technological solutions
 02
Science textbook
 1

In Finland, the main materials for teaching

mathematics and science are textbooks published
by commercial publishers.
These textbooks are not subject to official
approval, but they must comply with national
curriculum guidelines.
There are two to three widely used textbook
series both for the primary level (Grade 4) and
for the lower secondary level (Grade 8)

Grade 8

Grade 4  In addition to the student textbook, the sciences series

usually includes teachers’ guides, supplementary
materials, assessment materials, and some
manipulatives for the primary level
Schools and teachers are free to choose any textbook series
they find suitable. For practical reasons, teachers in the
same school usually use the same textbook.
 The curriculum is designed
to be accessible to each
student. From textbooks,
practice books, homework
and class lectures are all
selected and categorized to
suit each student.
 03
ASSESSment
 national core curriculum

verbal assessment grades 1–7

Numerical assessment the latest at 8th grade

Finnish National Board of Education 2016

no compairison not concern

personality
 The several roles of assessment in Finland

- Rather similar to those described in the US national

Science Education Standards.

- Assessment is a primary feedback mechanism in the

science Education system.
expectations

learnin changes in the science

g
education system

effectiveness

policie
s
kinds of assessment activities in the science
classroom
informal
formal
ASSESSMENT dianogstic
formative
summative

No national final examinations at the end of comprehensive

schooling.
The National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2004 (Finnish
National Board of Education, 2004)

Assessment during Final assessment

the course

Both are nationally mandated to align

with national criteria.

Aims: Encourages Aims: Provides feedback

student growth and to students about progress
self-assessment. in learning
 the matriculation examination
(not included in the National Curriculum)

The only high-stakes standardized test taken by students.

The matriculation examination is administered upon completion

of upper secondary school if the student intends to complete
further education.
 In sum, Finland’s assessment
practices result in fewer formal
assessments and fewer pressures for
teachers merely to prepare students
for a narrow examination.
 Reference
(1) The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades – TIMSS 2015
Encyclopedia. (n.d.). The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary
Grades – TIMSS 2015 Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
(2) “Assessment in Finland: A Scholarly Reflection on One Country's Use of
Formative, Summative, and Evaluative Practices,” n.d.
(3) Finnish National Board of Education. (2016). National Core Curriculum for Basic
Education 2014. Helsinki, Finland: Finnish National Board of Education.
Thank you for
listening