COMPETENCE-ORIENTED TASKS AS A MEANS OF FORMING NATURAL SCIENCE LITERACY IN BIOLOGY LESSONS

Abstract. Natural science literacy is an important component of functional literacy. Competence-oriented tasks are an effective means of forming natural science literacy in biology lessons. The article presents the components of natural science literacy, its competence, signs, structure, requirements, types of competence-oriented tasks, examples of subject, interdisciplinary and practical competence-oriented tasks with biological content. Competence-oriented tasks differ from traditional ones in their activity-based nature, which involves the use of educational skills in practical activities to solve the proposed problem, which is a model of a real situation.

Keywords: functional literacy, natural science literacy, biology, competence-oriented tasks.

According to A. A. Leontiev's definition, a functionally literate person is a person who can use all the knowledge, abilities and skills acquired during his life to solve the wide range of life tasks in different spheres of human activity, communication and social relations [5]. One of the key components of functional literacy is natural science literacy.

We should not separate the formation of natural science literacy into a separate stage in a modern biology lesson, we should integrate it organically into the teaching structure. Achieving a high level of competence in natural science literacy among students is possible only after special training and the proper organization of the conditions.

Therefore, natural science literacy contains the following elements:

1. General educational skills formed within the framework of natural science disciplines.
2. Concepts of natural science.
3. Contextual situations, where natural science knowledge should be used [6].

The aim of a modern biology teacher is to explain schoolchildren the usefulness of natural science knowledge and the importance of its application throughout their life. Accordingly, a modern biology teacher should teach schoolchildren to take an active civic position on issues connected with the complex of natural sciences, as well as an interest in different natural science ideas, that is exactly the natural science literacy. To teach students to get knowledge by themselves, each student must have common learning skills. In accordance with this aim, it becomes obligatory to create proper conditions for the self-study of schoolchildren studying such subject as Biology. It becomes possible due to the constant stimulating of their academic independence and cognitive activity, teaching schoolchildren to analyze information, critically evaluate it, systematize, generalize and creative processing [8].

Natural science knowledge at school is forming during the study of the disciplines of the Natural Science cycle: Physics (with some elements of Astronomy), Biology, Chemistry and Geography.

The framework of natural science literacy is the possibility to recognize problems in real situations and find solutions to them with the help of scientific methods. This ability is competence. To assess this ability, we should show pupils the typical of real-life problems and differ from traditional school assignments. The difficulties posed in these situations oblige the student to apply his knowledge in a new context, individual approaches to problem solving, and flexibility of thinking based on existing knowledge and skills acquired while studying various academic subjects.

The competence of students in the field of problem solving is interdisciplinary. It represents the foundation for further education, active participation in society, as well as the organization of their personal and professional activities.

Therefore, a modern teacher should teach students the ability to identify ideas, find new methods of educational activity, and deduce consequences using generalized connections between objects. The teacher should focus the student on solving applied problems in various situations, both standard and non-standard. He should encourage students to work independently using a variety of techniques, reference materials and other educational resources.

A scientifically literate person strives to participate in a reasoned discussion of problems related to natural sciences and technologies, that is why he is supposed to have the following competencies:

1. to explain phenomena scientifically;
2. to understand the main features of natural science research;
3. to interpret the data and use scientific evidence to get the conclusions [1,4].

For the development of natural science literacy, the teacher must include in the content of the topics studied in the academic subject the following tasks for the development of general academic skills: the ability to work with a text, transform the information, interpret data, to solve applied problems, to conduct research, make assumptions.

Assignments for the formation of natural science literacy are presented by means of the following meaningful features:

• the competence, the assignment of which is to evaluate it;
• natural science knowledge covered in the task;
• the context close to a real-life situation, which can be considered on a personal, local, regional or global level;
• the cognitive level of the assignment [2].

To conclude the mentioned information, the assignments in the subjects of the Natural Science cycle should have a competence-oriented character. Such assignments expand the teacher's ability to make the independent work of the students; help to more accurately identify the student's problems on the topic under study, and help to form key the competencies. However, the development of competence-oriented tasks is a time-consuming process that requires a teacher to have in-depth knowledge of their features and mastering the ways of their compilation and evaluation.

The indicators of a competence-based assignment are the following:

• imitation of a life situation;
• educational character, adaptation to the age level of pupils;
• going beyond one educational area;
• the existence of a larger than the ordinary educational tasks set of data, among which there can be the odd ones;
• the ability of the students to find the missed data in the reference literature by themselves.

Competence-oriented tasks differ from the traditional text assignment in that the condition is formulated as a plot or problem, to solve which it is indispensably to use knowledge that is not explicitly indicated in the text of the assignment or in the students book. The data in the assignment might be formed in the diagrams, drawings, tables, which will demand the recognition of the objects. According to the structure, the listed assignments are non-standard. It means that they provide several solutions. Apart from it, the data in the assignment may be contradictory, redundant, or missing. The goal of the pupil is to take the needed information from the available one, or to seek an additional information [7].

The requirements for a competence-oriented task can be distinguished as follows:

• the aim of pupils should be to acquire the independent knowledge by students;
• it should focus the pupil on the originality and novelty of solving a problem. Completing the task can demonstrate the personal experience of a pupil;
• the outcome of the assignment can be a written or an oral statement, an evaluative judgment, personal reasoned opinion, a message or an abstract;
• the task parameters (thematics of the task, volume and format) must be known.

The structure of a competence-based task is quite clearly defined:

• stimulus immerses you in the context of the task and motivates you to complete it;
• task formulation – indicates the student 's activity required to complete the task;
• the information source contains the necessary material for the successful completion of the task.
• the assessment tool is a scale of criteria and indicators, a model response, a key [7].

Each element of the assignment obeys certain requirements, which is because of the realization of the student's activities, and not the representtation of information or individual actions by him. Performing such tasks contributes not only to a deeper understanding of the subject material, but also helps to expand the scope of the curriculum, which stimulates self-education and self-help of students.

Let's consider the kinds and bright examples of competence-oriented tasks used in learning a school Biology course.

1. Subject: the condition describes a case, the solution of which demands the establishment of a large number of connections of some subject content studied in various sections of the subject. During the analysis of the particular condition, it is important to think over and analyze the data to construct a solution method. The result of it will provide cognitive significance and could be used in solving other assignments [3].

Task 1.1. Read the text: "Wingless insects up to 5 mm long. The body, flattened from the sides and equipped with bristles, is adapted to inhabit the fur of animals and feathers of birds. The head and chest are small, the abdomen is large. They have three pairs of legs, the hind ones are jumping. The mouthpart is piercing-sucking. They feed on blood. They can transmit pathogens to humans, such as: plague, typhus."

Using the text, write down the type of organism and its habitat.

Emphasize the adaptation of this organism to the environment in the text.

Task 1.2. Arrange sequentially the events that occur during the leaf fall:

1. the formation of a separating layer on the petiole;
2. changing the color of the leaves;
3. accumulation of harmful substances in the leaves during the summer;
4. destruction of chlorophyll due to the cold snap and a decrease in the amount of light;
5. leaf fall.

Explain the importance of leaf fall in plant life.

2. Interdisciplinary: the condition describes a case in the language of one of the subject areas with explicit or implicit use of information from another subject area. To solve it, it is obligatory to apply knowledge from the relevant fields, search for missing data and analyze the interdisciplinary situation [3].

Task 2.1. Explain why, when transporting seeds, especially legumes, by steamships and barges, even a relatively small amount of water into the hold can lead to catastrophic consequences?

Task 2.2. Read the text: "Roma spent the summer vacationing in the village with his grandmother. His grandmother grew cabbage and potatoes in the garden. While weeding on potatoes, Roma saw beautiful yellow beetles with black stripes. Red worms of various sizes were sitting in large numbers on other bushes. The grandmother explained to her grandson that the potato was attacked by a Colorado potato beetle, and the worms are the larvae from which these beetles will grow. The larvae emerge from the eggs. Grandma found red eggs on some bushes. If the processing is not carried out, the larvae destroy the potatoes. Roma became interested in how other insects reproduce in nature."

Read the text of the textbook. Define the types of insect development. Write down the stages of transformation for each type of development. Give examples for each type of development.

3. Practical: the condition describes a practical situation. In order to solve it a student should apply knowledge from different subject areas and skills acquired in everyday experience. The data in such a task should not be disconnected from reality [3].

Task 3.1. You are the owner of an orange plantation. When growing oranges, you are faced with a problem: many trees began to wither and die. You should protect the orange trees.

With the help of the references, list all possible means of protecting orange trees from pests in a certain order, starting with the most effective, ending with the least effective means. Explain your choice.

Certificates issued by the laboratory of the Agricultural Academy:

Certificate number 1. Tree roots are affected by adult weevil beetles and their larvae. These are beetles, 3-6 mm long. Their front part of the head is elongated into a so-called tube and resembles the proboscis of a tiny elephant. Weevils can destroy 1/3 of the trees on a citrus plantation.

Certificate number 2. The trees on the plantation grow on sandy soil. It warms up well, and young shoots of plants appear on them earlier than on clay or chernozems. However, after rain or irrigation, the water leaves the surface layer into deeper layers of the soil. The basal neck and most of the tree roots are in dry soil most of the time.

Forming the natural science literacy among students in Biology lessons at a comprehensive school, the teacher can use the number of reference competence-oriented tasks as tools or compose author's tasks in accordance with the requirements for them.

In conclusion, we find out that to get the maximum effectiveness while forming the Natural Science literacy among students in Biology lessons within the framework of the modern educational process, the teacher should use innovative means, forms and methodic of teaching. Natural Sciences should be taught as a helping element for learning the world, and not as a list of facts designed for remembering. Competence-oriented tasks will help to solve this problem, contributing to the development of universal learning activities among pupils and the creation of the functional literacy.