A Comparative Study Of Chinese And American Elementary School Science Textbooks

Textbook is an im portant carrier of knowledge transfer in school education,especially the written work.Elementary school as the enlightenment stage of Education are very important.Therefore,it is necessary to collect all the bas ic knowledge of natural scien ce and the corresponding frontier of Science,to reflect the accumulation and development of science.The United St ates is one of the m ost developed countries,the reform of science curriculum and the compilation of scientific textbooks are representativ e,therefore,the preparation and design of its textbooks are worth studying and using for reference.The object of this study is the el ementary school science textbooks(grade 3 t o grade 6)which is publ ished by Chi na Education Science Press(hereinafter referred to as: Education Science Press of textbook)and Colorado is now used by ACSI(Association of Chri stian Schools International)/Purposeful Design publ ished the elementary school "SCIENCE"(grade 4 to grade 6)(hereinafter referred to as: ACSI version of the textbook),and through the literature analysis,comparative analysis,statistical analysis,random sampling survey and case analysis of the t wo edition of the comparative study of teaching materials,the research mainly includes five parts:First,the comparison between Ch inese elementary school scienc e curriculum standards and American el ementary school science education standards,it mainly compares the curriculum idea,the curriculum goal,the overall structure as well as the c ontent standard in "The curriculum standards of Science(gra de 1 to grade 6)" and " The national science education standards in the United Stat es ".Both of them ar e basically consistent in the curriculum idea and the curriculum goal,they are for all students,based on "scientific inquiry ".There is a great dif ference in content standards and partial objectives for curriculum,there ar e standards of teach ers and edu cational system in American educational standards,China curriculum standard did not elaborate in this respect.Secondly,comparison of the whol e structure of the two edition textbook,the same areas are "life science","physical science","earth and space science",the difference is that ACSI version of the textbook have "Human body" in it s field.They have different field distri bution ratio,Education Science Press of textbook di stribution is not balanced,lar ge field of physical science,in add ition to the "human body",ACSI version of the textbook have the same distribution in other fields.Thirdly,compare the Unit structure of the two edition textbooks,both unit and class hour teaching,each grad e unit settings are related,do not exist independently.However,there are differences in the number of units,the number of hours and the subject content.But the two edition of teaching materials,modules and hours are dif ferent,ACSI version of the textbook are also equipped with large units and small units.Fourth,to compare the two versions of content knowledge,through the presentation of the two edition of the textbook language,illustrations,columns and "life science" part of the knowledge content,summed up the complete and unified characteristics and logic of the ACSI version of t he textbook in the knowledge content arra ngement and teaching of science textbooks do not have these features.Fifth,by summarizi ng the ch aracteristics of ACSI version of th e textbook,and for the first four parts of the conclusions,in the compilation of primary school science textbooks in China,Should be strengthened in the curriculum standards,the structure of the system,knowledge content and so on.There are seven suggesti ons on the com pilation of Chinese elementary school science textbooks: 1.There need pay more attention to the revision of curriculum standards;2.Change the opening time of science curriculum in elementary school;3.Reasonable arrangement and design of elementary school science teaching materials;4.Improve the discipline status of elementary school science curriculum;5.Improve the presentation of teaching materials;6.Improve the level of teachers and the construction of school laborator y;7.The replacement of the knowledge content of elementary sc hool science textbooks should be synchronized with the development of science and technology.