HOW PRIMARY STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS OF MIXTURES AND SOLUTIONS

A key and persistent challenge in early science education is effectively transforming complex scientific concepts into didactic material. To meet the demands of modern teaching, practitioners and researchers are constantly developing and adapting effective science teaching models. Accordingly, selected chemical content was taught through pilot projects using the Inquiry-Based Science Education approach. The study assessed how the designed Inquiry-Based Teaching Model affected students' knowledge quality. This innovative teaching model applies STEAM+X educational framework to guide students through inquiry, dialogue, critical thinking and experiential learning, thereby contributing to the development of their persistence in problem solving, collaborative skills and unique creative abilities. The goal of this research was to check whether it is possible, and if so, how to teach concepts of mixtures and solutions in the 4th grade of elementary school through the particulate nature of matter. The research was conducted at one elementary school in Serbia on a total sample of 21 students. The obtained results show that students accomplished better achievements on the post-test compared to the pre-test, which, along with the observed high motivation of students to learn through inquiry, confirmed the effectiveness of the created and applied teaching model. The implemented IBTM facilitated a comprehensive understanding of mixture and solution properties, accurate classification of examples, improved comprehension of separation procedures, and enhanced knowledge of substance solubility in water. However, categorizing the properties of mixtures and solutions based on similarities and differences proved challenging for students at this age, irrespective of the teaching model. Given the promising potential of the obtained data, this study provides valuable insights for the future application of these or modified models across varied teaching content, with larger samples, and over longer time frames.