Abstract:

High-quality science education is essential for developing scientifically literate citizens capable of informed decision-making, critical thinking, and active participation in society. To this end, international research consistently highlights the importance of engaging students in inquiry-based approaches, also widely promoted in curricular reforms in Latin America and beyond. Yet, science lessons often remain rooted in traditional, reproductive practices, offering limited opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with scientific ideas and exposing a persistent gap in curricular enactment.

Student notebooks offer a unique window into the enacted curriculum, capturing the tasks that structure daily classroom work and shedding light on the learning opportunities actually available to students. This study examines the types of activities present in 4th-grade science lessons in public urban schools across six Argentine provinces—Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Formosa, Mendoza, Río Negro, and Salta—through the analysis of 1,241 activities recorded in a sample of 33 student notebooks. Through content analysis, activities were coded into 16 categories representing different instructional tasks and cognitive demands, grouped into domains such as information recording, text-based Q&A, worksheets, experimental activities, information search, assessment, and metacognition.

Findings show that science lessons are overwhelmingly structured around low-demand, reproductive tasks. Information recording (25.53%), worksheets involving word searches, anagrams, or matching exercises (17.94%), and literal-recall questions (17.54%) accounted for nearly two-thirds of all activities. By contrast, tasks associated with scientific practices—such as experimental work (6.36%), eliciting prior knowledge (5.79%), or information search (6.36%)—were comparatively infrequent, and metacognitive opportunities were almost absent (0.65%). These patterns indicate restricted opportunities for students to engage in scientific reasoning, explanation, argumentation, inquiry, or reflection.

Despite this general consistency, cross-provincial variation revealed some instructional differences. Córdoba showed the most inquiry-oriented profile, with the highest proportion of experimental activities (15.68%) and activation of prior knowledge (10.94%). Mendoza displayed a high frequency of information-search tasks (12.58%), suggesting a more research-oriented approach. In contrast, Formosa, Río Negro, and Salta exhibited strongly reproduction-driven profiles, with high levels of copying and very low experimentation. Buenos Aires presented a mixed pattern.

Another salient finding is the strong influence of textbooks: among activities with identifiable sources, an average of 72% originated directly from textbooks, and in one-third of notebooks this proportion reached 100%. This reliance suggests instructional cultures heavily shaped by textbook-driven practices, limiting opportunities for diversification.

Overall, findings show that the enacted 4th-grade science curriculum across these provinces is dominated by low-demand tasks that limit opportunities for scientific thinking. Strengthening elementary science education will require coordinated efforts in teacher preparation, professional development, and curriculum implementation, aimed at reducing overreliance on textbooks and supporting teachers in designing more diverse and higher-demand learning activities.

Keywords:

Science education, instructional activities, learning opportunities, curriculum enactment, elementary education.