Development of a parent’s guide for the Singapore primary science curriculum: Empowering parents as facilitators of their children’s science learning outside the formal classrooms

An Outline of the Themes, Chapters, and Activities in the I-Science Parent’s Guide (Lower Primary 3 & 4 and Upper Primary 5 & 6)

I-Science Parent’s Guide Booklet 1 (Lower Primary 3 & 4)
Themes	Chapters	Activities
Diversity	Chapter 1: Living and Non-living things	Activity 1: Are they living or non-living things?
		Activity 2: Are the things at home living or non-living?
		Activity 3: How do we know whether it is living or non-living?
		Activity 4: What can living things do?
	Chapter 2: Diversity of Living Things	Activity 1: Which animal groups do they belong to?
		Activity 2: What does my pet need?
		Activity 3: Are vegetables plants?
		Activity 4: Are seeds living or non-living things?
		Activity 5: What are fruits?
	Chapter 3: Diversity of Materials	Activity 1: Which materials is it made of?
		Activity 2: Is it transparent, translucent or opaque?
		Activity 3: Which material absorbs water the fastest?
		Activity 4: Does it float or sink?
		Activity 5: Will it get scratched easily?
Cycles	Chapter 1: The Cycle of Life	Activity 1: What are seeds?
		Activity 2: Making a butterfly life cycle mobile
		Activity 3: What is your life story?
		Activity 4: What are their life cycles?
		Activity 5: How many stages are there in their life cycle?
	Chapter 2: Matter	Activity 1: How do we measure mass and volume?
		Activity 2: What is a matter?
		Activity 3: How do we classify matter?
		Activity 4: Can you smell that?
Systems	Chapter 1: Plant System	Activity 1: What do the parts in a part do?
		Activity 2: Making a leaf press
		Activity 3: How do we classify leaves?
		Activity 4: How does water travel in a plant?
	Chapter 2: Human System	Activity 1: What happens to your food?
		Activity 2: Making a lung model
		Activity 3: Does your pulse rate change?
		Activity 4: How much do you know about your skeleton?
Interactions	Chapter 1: Magnets	Activity 1: Guess which objects are magnetic?
		Activity 2: Making my own magnet by the stroking method
		Activity 3: Is the strength of a magnet uniform throughout?
		Activity 4: Making a magnetic toy
Energy	Chapter 1: Light	Activity 1: Mirror and reflection
		Activity 2: Can these objects form shadows?
		Activity 3: Can shadows change?
		Activity 4: Making a pinhole camera
	Chapter 2: Heat and Temperature	Activity 1: Hot or cold?
		Activity 2: What are heat conductors and insulators?
		Activity 3: Does air expand and contract?
		Activity 4: What is my body temperature?
		Activity 5: What is the temperature today?
		Activity 6: Which coloured material is warmer – black or white?

I-Science Parent’s Guide Booklet 2 (Lower Primary 5 & 6)
Themes	Chapters	Activities
Cycles	Chapter 1: Water	Activity 1: How does water change to solid and back to liquid again?
		Activity 2: How does water change to a gas and back to a liquid again?
		Activity 3: How is rain formed?
		Activity 4: Why do we need reservoirs?
		Activity 5: How can we reduce water pollution?
	Chapter 2: Reproduction in Plants	Activity 1: How is a flower pollinated?
		Activity 2: Why do seeds need to be dispersed?
		Activity 3: Why do angsana fruits have wing-like structures?
		Activity 4: What helps a seed to germinate?
	Chapter 3: Sexual Reproduction in Humans	Activity 1: Do I look more like my dad or my mum?
		Activity 2: How does the developing baby grow?
Systems	Chapter 1: Systems in Living Things	Activity 1: Does breathing rate depend on a person’s age?
		Activity 2: Can a system work if one part of it is missing?
		Activity 3: Why do we need our body systems?
	Chapter 2: Cells	Activity 1: What is in a cell?
		Activity 2: Making a jelly cell
	Chapter 3: Electrical System	Activity 1: What makes up a simple circuit?
		Activity 2: Which circuit is better?
		Activity 3: Is this a conductor or an insulator of electricity?
		Activity 4: Which electrical appliance uses more energy?
Interactions	Chapter 1: Forces	Activity 1: Am I pushing or pulling?
		Activity 2: Making magnetic puppets for a puppet show
		Activity 3: Is force at work here?
		Activity 4: Friction – helpful or not helpful?
	Chapter 2: Environment	Activity 1: What are the factors that affect the organisms in a garden community?
		Activity 2: What communities can I find?
		Activity 3: Making a garden in a bottle
	Chapter 3: Web of Life	Activity 1: Exploring an open field community
		Activity 2: How can we form food webs from food chains?
	Chapter 4: Adaptations	Activity 1: How do animals adapt themselves to their environments?
		Activity 2: What adaptations do marine organisms have?
		Activity 3: What adaptations does a polar bear have?
	Chapter 5: Man’s Impact on the Environment	Activity 1: How does water pollution affect aquatic organisms?
		Activity 2: How do we use recycled materials creatively?
		Activity 3: How is yeast used in biotechnology?
Energy	Chapter 1: Energy and Photosynthesis	Activity 1: Where does our food come from?
		Activity 2: How do plants make food?
		Activity 3: Is starch present?
	Chapter 2: Energy Forms and Uses	Activity 1: What is energy?
		Activity 2: How do my toys convert energy?
		Activity 3: Making a jumping frog
		Activity 4: How do I make a toy which can convert energy?