In this graduation thesis I tested the knowledge of primary school students of the 7th, 8th and 9th grades regarding the secretory organs in humans. I gathered the data through an exam which was based on the 8th grade syllabus objectives. 241 pupils from two primary schools in South-East Slovenia participated in the examination. I designed four research questions. While studying primary school Natural Science syllabi with regard to secretory organs I found out that pupils learn about some basic concepts (e.g. secretion) and familiarize themselves with body organs and their functions already in the first triad. They explore kidney functions already in the 4th grade. A more in-depth discussion of secretors takes place in the 8th grade when pupils learn about their structure, activity and importance, and also gain knowledge on the dialysis machine and urine tests. My comparison of chapters on secretory organs of two approved textbook sets for 8th grade Biology that are available in print showed that they are similarly designed, yet each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, I discovered that to gain knowledge pupils depend solely on textbooks and do not have any extra materials, unless provided by their teacher. My research showed that knowledge of eight graders, who learned about secretory organs in their current school year, was statistically better than the knowledge
of seventh graders, who were not taught the topic yet, only in three out of seven tasks (2, 4 and 6). Knowledge of ninth graders, who learned about secretory organs in the previous school year, was statistically poorer than that of eight graders in three tasks (1, 2 and 6). This implies that they have already forgotten the topic of the previous school year. Knowledge of ninth graders was statistically not different than that of seventh graders. Based on the results of my research and relevant literature that emphasises the importance of practical work in Natural Science/Biology learning, I made a lesson plan proposal for a lesson on secretory organs for the 8th grade of primary school. It revolves around experiential learning where pupils independently create and use a model of secretory organs which helps them in their studying.
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