Evolution Theory in Textbooks for Grade 9 of Primary School

Evolucija je ena izmed najpomembnejših teorij za razumevanje biologije in sveta okoli nas ter ena izmed težjih in kompleksnejših vsebin, s katerimi se učenci srečajo. Poleg tega je težava pri poučevanju evolucije posledica obsežnega učnega načrta, pomanjkanja časa za dobro poglabljanje, utrjevanje učne vsebine in že samo nerazumevanje evolucije s strani učiteljev ter potemtakem slabo podajanje učne snovi. Težave nastanejo tudi kot posledica verskih prepričanj. Kako otroci razumejo evolucijo, je seveda odvisno tudi od učbenikov, na katerih učitelji velikokrat gradijo svojo razlago. Slabša kakovost učbenikov lahko privede do napačnih predstav učencev, zato je pomembno, kako učbeniki predstavljajo vsebino. Z raziskavo smo ugotovili, da se učbeniki za biologijo v 9. razredu osnovne šole razlikujejo po obsegu in številu strani, ki zajemajo vsebino evolucije, ter se razlikujejo tudi v tem, koliko podkategorij po FACE evolucijskem okvirju zajemajo ter v kolikšni meri. Prav tako se med učbeniki pojavljajo razlike v številu vizualizacijskih elementov (slike/fotografije/risbe, grafi, tabele, modeli), nalog in vprašanj. Število primerov za razlago evolucijske teorije in njihova raznovrstnost sta presegla naša pričakovanja, saj so predstavniki iz vseh kraljestev in jih kar 80 % domuje v Sloveniji, vendar prevladujejo živalski primeri, ki v 70 % primerov prikazujejo pridobitev lastnosti.Evolution is one of the most important theories for understanding biology and the world around us, and one of the more difficult and complex subjects that students encounter. In addition, the difficulty in teaching evolution is due to the extensive curriculum, the lack of time for deepen knowledge, consolidation of the material and the teachers\u27 lack of understanding of evolution and therefore poor delivery of the material. Problems also arise as a result of religious beliefs. How children understand evolution also depends, of course, on the textbooks on which teachers often base their explanations. Poor quality textbooks can lead to students\u27 misconceptions, so how textbooks present content is important. Through research, we found that biology textbooks in the 9th grade of primary school differ in range of pages that cover the content of evolution, and they also differ in how many subcategories according to the FACE evolutionary framework they cover and how in detail. There are also differences between the textbooks in the number of visualization elements (pictures/photos/drawings, graphs, tables, models), tasks and questions. The number of examples to explain the theory of evolution and their diversity exceeded our expectations, as there are representatives of all kingdoms and as much as 80 % of them are native to Slovenia, but animal examples predominate, which in 70 % of cases show the acquisition of traits