c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 143 Evolution in the Spanish Primary Education Autonomic Curricula and Textbooks. A Geographic Analysis Mª Arritokieta Ortuzar Iragorri* 1 and Teresa Zamalloa 2 • Evolution by natural selection is a theory that constitutes a powerful para - digm capable of conveying the teaching-learning of multiple concepts in biology. However, it has been controversial from its formulation to the pre - sent, which also affects education. For instance, while some of the basic curricula of primary education in Europe are arranged around the con - cepts that are considered necessary for structuring the scientific model of evolution (i.e., Sweden), other curricula do not contemplate such concepts. The last is the case of the basic curriculum of primary education in Spain. However, in Spain, on the basis of such a curriculum, there are 17 dif - ferent primary education curricula corresponding to each of the autono - mous communities of the state. The objective of this work is to state a detailed geographical picture of the presence of the concepts necessary to articulate the model of evolution through the analysis of the autonomic curricula of Spain. With such an aim, words that represent such concepts (evolution, inheritance, selection, adaptation and biodiversity, etc.) have been searched for in the natural sciences and social sciences areas of the autonomous curricula of primary education. Furthermore, a search for such evolution-related concepts has also been performed in the activities of eighteen Spanish primary education textbooks on natural and social science subjects. For this purpose, two aspects were considered: charac - terisation and scientific skills. Both the autonomous curricula of primary education and the textbooks hold important gaps when addressing evolu - tion. The texts include activities that prioritise basic cognitive skills over the more demanding ones associated with scientific competence. Keywords: primary education, autonomic curricula, progression, evolution model, textbooks 1 *Corresponding Author. Faculty of Education of Bilbao at University of the Basque Country, Spain; arritxu.ortuzar@ehu.eus. 2 Faculty of Education of Bilbao at University of the Basque Country, Spain. doi: https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1487 144 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... Razvoj avtonomnih učnih načrtov in učbenikov v španskem osnovnošolskem izobraževanju – geografska analiza Mª Arritokieta Ortuzar Iragorri in Teresa Zamalloa • Evolucija z naravno selekcijo je teorija, ki predstavlja močno paradigmo, sposobno transfera poučevanja – učenja več konceptov v biologiji. Prav od svoje formulacije in vse do danes pa ostaja sporna, kar vpliva tudi na izobraževanje. Medtem ko so na primer nekateri osnovni učni načrti osnovnošolskega izobraževanja (OI) v Evropi urejeni okrog konceptov, za katere se predvideva, da so bistveni za osnovanje znanstvenega mo - dela evolucije (tj. na Švedskem), drugi tega niti približno ne odražajo. Zadnji tak primer za OI prihaja iz Španije. Tam na podlagi takega uč - nega načrta obstaja 17 različnih učnih načrtov, ki ustrezajo vsaki izmed avtonomnih skupnosti države. Cilj te raziskave je podati podrobno ge - ografsko sliko prisotnosti konceptov, potrebnih za artikulacijo modela evolucije z analizo avtonomnih učnih načrtov Španije. S tem v mislih so bile besede, ki se sklicujejo ne te koncepte (evolucija, dedovanje, iz - bor, prilagoditev, biodiverziteta itn.), raziskane v sklopu naravoslovnih in družboslovnih znanosti znotraj avtonomnih učnih načrtov osnovno - šolskega izobraževanja. Nadalje, lociranje tovrstnih konceptov je bilo opravljeno tudi z analizami 18 španskih osnovnošolskih učbenikov s po - dročij naravoslovja in družboslovja. V ta namen sta bila upoštevana dva vidika: karakterizacija in znanstvena znanja. Tako avtonomni učni načrt primarnega izobraževanja kot učbeniki vsebujejo bistvene pomanjklji - vosti, vrzeli pri obravnavanju evolucije. Besedila vključujejo dejavnosti, ki dajejo prednost osnovnim kognitivnim veščinam pred zahtevnejšimi, povezanimi z znanstveno usposobljenostjo. Ključne besede: osnovnošolsko izobraževanje, avtonomni učni načrt, napredovanje, evolucijski model, učbeniki c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 145 Introduction The theory of evolution is considered one of the greatest scientific achievements in the history of science because it changed the concept of fixed species and replaced it with the view that new species can arise from old species. It lies at the core of current biological knowledge and enables making sense of biological diversity and its change over time (National Science Teaching As - sociation [NSTA], 2013). However, evolutionary theory tends to create a public controversy that makes teaching evolution a difficult task for teachers who need to consider various domains when teaching about it: a) the conceptual domain, which includes both scientifically accepted evolutionary concepts and students’ non-scientific conceptions related to evolutionary theory, b) the epistemic do - main, c) the worldview/religious domain, and d) the social and cultural domain (Deniz & Borgerding, 2018). This controversy has impacted education as the concepts necessary for the subsequent structuring of the scientific model of evolution are not contemplated in some of the European Primary Education (PE) curricula, including in Spain (Vázquez-Ben & Bugallo Rodríguez, 2018). According to the Organic Law 8/2013 for the quality of Education (LOMCE) and the recent Organic Law 3/2020 that modifies it (LOMLOE), it is the duty of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to design the ba - sic PE curriculum. Hence, the autonomous communities plan the autonomous curricula of Primary Education (APEC) based on the aforementioned basic cur - riculum (Eurydice, 2022). Thus, there are 17 different PE curricula for each of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain. They will soon be rearranged to meet the standards of the new law LOMLOE. Nowadays, autonomous curricula are or - ganised into core and non-core subjects and, within them, blocks are established. Natural Sciences (NatSci) and Social Sciences (SocSci) are core subjects; the first has five blocks: i) introduction to scientific activity, ii) the human being and their health, iii) the living beings, iv) matter and energy, and v) technology, objects and machines; SocSci comprehends the following blocks: i) common contents, ii) the world we live in, iii) to live in society, and iv) traces of time. Thus, the contents related to evolution are approached both in the area of NatSci and SocSci. Since evolution by natural selection enables understanding the com - plexity of biological processes and helps to explain multiple socio-scientific issues (Working Group on Teaching Evolution [WGTE], 1998), NatSci and SocSci classrooms are crucial for teaching about this topic. Furthermore, one of the objectives of science education is to aid students in becoming scientifi - cally literate citizens so that they are able to engage with science-related issues, and with the ideas of science, as reflective citizens (Organization for Economic 146 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2019). Such a goal requires not only knowledge about scientific concepts and theories but also about scientific prac - tices and how they enable science to advance (Jiménez-Aleixandre & Crujeiras, 2017), as well as being able to apply them in a variety of contexts and situations (De Pro, 2013). Thus, selecting socio-scientific issues that induce the student to intervene to solve them contributes to the development of critical thinking (Blanco López et al., 2017). In fact, Sadler (2005) suggested that students’ un - derstanding and acceptance of evolution can significantly influence how they negotiate and resolve socio-scientific issues. Therefore, teaching must involve students in authentic scientific prac - tices that need to provide opportunities for students to use inquiry skills to gen - erate new ideas in response to questions or problems and to evaluate their va - lidity using arguments based on empirical evidence but also to model outlines in order to generate explanations from the existing evidence (Osborne, 2014). In fact, Gilbert (2004) states that the science curriculum should be structured to facilitate students’ progress towards expert modelling status. To achieve it in evolution, a specific progression of ideas is described by the Next Genera - tion Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013) of the United States of America, which, like Spain, is part of the OECD. The NGSS are not a curricu - lum, but a series of objectives and good practices, which include the following core ideas for evolution: inheritance of traits, variation of traits, evidence of common ancestry and diversity, natural selection/artificial selection, adapta - tion, and biodiversity and people (Vázquez-Ben & Bugallo-Rodríguez, 2018). Unfortunately, there is a consensus regarding the poor results obtained from compulsory education in many countries in terms of the meaningful learn - ing of evolution (Alters & Nelson, 2002; Smith, 2010). One of the different factors that have been identified as a possible cause is the inadequacy of teaching materi - als, including textbooks (Demastes et al., 1995; Nehm & Schonfeld, 2007). Thus, although in recent decades the need to moderate the use of textbooks has been highlighted (Del Carmen & Jiménez, 2010), it has been shown that the majority of teachers use textbooks in their classrooms, making them the main source of information available to students and the most used resource in the classroom (Caixeta de Castro Lima & De Souza Silva, 2010). In this sense, teachers find security in them, so they tend to defend their use, because it facilitates teaching as they are a source of organisation, guidance, and consultation and offers mate - rial already elaborated in a visually attractive manner for the students (López Hernández, 2011; Monereo, 2010). Furthermore, Kova and Moharthat (2022) in - dicate that for some types of reading printed texts are better than screens, and interactivity and dynamic design require coherent design to improve reading c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 147 performance and higher-level thinking skills. Therefore, one of the keys may lie in the choice of a suitable textbook. Indeed, Pavešić and Cankar (2022) observed that there were significant differences in knowledge and attitudes toward math - ematics and science subjects in primary schools between groups of students using different textbooks and even revealed that certain contents were not taught in schools because they were not present in outdated editions of textbooks. The development of scientific skills depends, in addition to good teacher practices (Blanco-López et al., 2015; Lupión-Cobos et al., 2017), on the quality of the textbooks, which are an important mediator of student learning. Therefore, the aim of this work is to assess the weight of evolution and evolution-related terms in both the APEC and the teaching activities proposed by the textbooks of the last three years of PE. More specifically, the following research questions are raised: • To what extent are evolution and evolution-related terms present in the PE curricula corresponding to all the autonomous communities of Spain? • What are the characteristics of the activities related to evolution in PE textbooks in both NatSci and SocSci in terms of their dimension, situa - tion in the text, contextualisation, and material necessary? • What specific skills associated with scientific competence allow these activities to be developed? • Are there any differences between subjects (NatSci and SocSci) to which the activities are directed regarding the skills they promote? Method Analysis of the curricula Table 1 shows the 17 different APEC for each of the 17 autonomous com - munities of Spain. Sá-Pinto et al. (2021) described a framework to assess school curricula according to whether the students address the ideas, concepts, and mechanisms that are necessary to understand evolution. However, since the diversity of the APEC documents in terms of their extension and arrangement was high (Alonso et al., 2015), the ‘text mining’ technique (Kaushik & Naithani, 2016) was selected to assess a global analysis. As mentioned, the concepts regarding the inheritance of traits, natural selection/ artificial selection, adaptation, and biodiversity are signalled to set the scaffolding, level by level, to the knowledge of evolution by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Leas States, 2013). Thus, besides ‘evolution’ , the words chosen to be searched for in the NatSci area of the APEC as respectively repre - sentative of the previously mentioned disciplinary core ideas were ‘inheritance’ , 148 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... ‘selection’ , ‘adaptation’ , ‘biodiversity’ and ‘people’ . Since evolution helps to explain many socio-scientific issues (WGTE, 1998) and thus in Spain, the topic of evolu - tion is also included in the SocSci area, the analysis was also driven in the SocSci area of the APEC. In addition, while performing the analysis, the words ‘extinc - tion’ and ‘time’ came up, and the authors of this work decided to include them in the analysis: in the case of ‘extinction’ because of its relationship with biodiversity and in the case of ‘time’ because evolution involves time. However, the words (and/or their derivatives) were only accounted for when related to evolution; spe - cifically, ‘selection’ was not considered when it referred to the duty of the students to select information or ‘evolution’ when referring to the progress of the students. Table 1 Primary Education curricula per autonomous community and the corresponding decrees Autonomous Community Normative Andalusia 97/2015 Decree of March the 3 rd Aragon ECD/850/2016 Order of July the 29 th Asturias 82/2014 Decree of August the 28 th � alearics 32/2014 Decree of July the 18 th Canary Islands 89/2014 Decree of August the 1 st Cantabria 27/2014 Decree of June the 5 th Castile La Mancha 54/2014 Decree of July the 10 th Castile and Leon 26/2016 Decree of July the 21 st Catalonia 119/2015 Decree of June the 23 rd Valencia Decrees 108/2014, of July the 4 th and 88/2017 of July the 7 th Estremadura 103/2014 Decree of June the 10 th Galicia 05/2014 Decree of September the 4 th Madrid 89/2014 Decree of July the 24 th Murcia 198/2014 Decree of September the 5 th Navarra 60/2014 Regional Decree of July the 16 th � asque Country 236/2015 Decree of December the 22 nd La Rioja 24/2014 Decree of June the 13 th While performing the analysis, the words ‘extinction’ and ‘time’ were seen, and the authors of this work decided to include them in the analysis. As mentioned, the APEC widely differed, also regarding their length. Thus, the frequency with which the selected terms were mentioned was relativised to the addition of the frequencies with which each of the eight terms appeared in each area (Eq. 1) (Ortuzar-Iragorri & Diez-López, 2021). c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 149 [Eq. 1] Where = Relative frequency for the i term in the area. = Absolute frequency of the i term in the area. Textbook analysis In Spain, the first concept in the progression to the evolution model, the topic of human reproduction, is usually addressed from the 4 th EP grade onwards. Accordingly, the teaching activities proposed by textbooks for the last three years of Primary Education (9–10-, 10–11, and 11–12-year-old children in the 4 th , 5 th and 6 th grades, respectively) of three widely established Spanish publishers, SM, San - tillana, and Anaya, (hereinafter A, B, and C) were analysed (18 textbooks). The textbooks corresponded to the two subjects of interest (NatSci and SocSci). In total, 105 activities were analysed, distributed, as shown in Table 2. Table 2 Distribution of the activities analysed according to the editorials and curricular area Subject 4 th grade 5 th grade 6 th grade Ed A Ed B Ed C Ed A Ed B Ed C Ed A Ed B Ed C NatSci 0 5 11 12 6 16 0 0 13 SocSci 7 3 6 3 1 1 15 1 5 As previously described by García Barros et al. (2021), two aspects were considered for the analysis of the activities: characterisation and scientific skills. First, for the characterisation of the activities, their length, situation, context and material needed were taken into account (García Barros et al., 2021). Furthermore, taking into account the disciplinary core ideas regarding evolution previously searched in the different APEC, the concept related to evolution that was most present in the activities was analysed. Second, for the scientific skills that the activities enable to work on, the scientific competence described in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (OECD, 2019) and the skills linked which are related to higher-order cognitive processes (i.e., applying, analysing, evaluating) and to lower-order cognitive processes (i.e., remembering, analysing, evaluating) were considered (García Barros et al., 2021). Specifically, four types of catego - ries were established: a) Type 1: basic cognitive abilities, such as identifying 150 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... characteristics, establishing relationships, classifying, comparing, and defining; b) Type 2: abilities related to the use of knowledge to describe, explain causes or effects or justify phenomena scientifically using a theoretical model; c) Type 3: abilities related to the search of information, from observation or the use of other sources of information, to the approach to inquiry, the formulation of hypotheses, the design of experiments, carrying out experiments; and d) Type 4: abilities linked to the scientific interpretation of data and evidence (using evidence/data; formulating conclusions and elaborating arguments justifying the validity of an idea or the adoption of behaviour, based on theoretical or empirical knowledge) (Table 3). The analysis was performed independently by the two authors; when disa - greements or doubts arose, they were discussed until a consensus was reached. When comparisons were made, the Chi-square test (SPSS-version 27) was used, and a significance level of p 0.05 was considered. Table 3 Criteria used for the analysis of the scientific skills that activities enable to work Scientific abilities Types Abilities Examples Type 1 Identify characteristics Identify two adaptations of the living being in the photograph. Classify Classify in a table the natural and artificial changes that can destroy ecosystems. Compare Look at the drawings on the two pages. Note the actions that damage the environment (marked with red dots) and indicate the actions taken to repair this damage (marked with blue dots). Define Write in your notebook the meaning of the following: species, endangered, captive breeding, and biodiversity. Type 2 Describe facts or phenomena Look at both pictures and describe the Explain/justify The following images Type 3 Observe Observe the following images and describe…. Search for information Find information on what creatures living on a coastline with daily high and low tides have to adapt to. Propose hypothesis What do you think would occur if they were no seas or oceans? Would there be life? Why? Design experiments - Experiment - Type 4 Use evidence/data - Formulate conclusions Explain how the artificial elements and the actions of human beings influence the environment shown in the image and conclude what measures we can take to reduce their impact. Elaborate arguments - Note. Adapted from García � arros et al., 2021. c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 151 Results Overall, the word ‘evolution’ was mentioned 11 times in the NatSci area of the 17 APEC. That is less than once per APEC. When it was mentioned, it was usually in the NatSci introductive area of the APEC within the phrase ‘The development of Science and scientific activity is one of the essential keys to understanding the evolution of humanity’ . Such a phrase refers to the impact of science on humanity rather than to the concept of biological evolution. In the case of SocSci, the word ‘evolution’ appears 206 times at the 17 APEC. That is 12 times on average per APEC, more than all the times the term was found in the NatSci area of the APEC. However, it refers to the historical, cultural, demo - graphic, and landscape evolution of humans and their settings. Regarding the words that represent the progression to the evolution model (inheritance, selection adaptation, biodiversity and the terms extinc - tion and time), ‘extinction’ was, on average, the word whose relative frequency (58.7%) was highest in the NatSci area of the APEC (Figure 1A) followed by ‘biodiversity’ (18.6%), ‘adaptation’ (8.2%), ‘time’ (2.5%) and inheritance (1.8%). ‘Selection’ (0.0%) was not mentioned in any of the NatSci areas of the APEC. It is also noticeable that while all the other words were not mentioned in some of the NatSci areas of the APEC, ‘extinction’ was mentioned in all of them, except for Catalonia, at least once. In fact, its relative frequency is 100% in the NatSci area of the PE curricula of two autonomous communities (Madrid and Murcia) (Table 4). As expected, ‘extinction’ and ‘biodiversity’ were often found together in Block 3 (living beings) in the sense that the extinction of species causes a loss in biodiversity. 152 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... Table 4 Relative frequency with which each of the selected words appears in the autonomous curricula, in the NatSci field and in the SocSci field Autonomous community Relative frequency (%) Evolution Inheritance Selection Adaptation Biodiversity Extinction Time Nat Sci Soc Sci Nat Sci Soc Sci Nat Sci Soc Sci Nat Sci Soc Sci Nat Sci Soc Sci Nat Sci Soc Sci Nat Sci Soc Sci Andalusia 14.3 25.6 14.3 23.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 28.6 0.0 42.9 0.0 0.0 51.1 Aragon 16.7 14.3 16.7 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 16.7 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 75.2 Asturias 7.7 30.8 0.0 7.7 0.0 0.0 15.4 0.0 15.4 0.0 61.5 0.0 0.0 61.5 � alearics 0.0 15.4 0.0 10.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 74.4 Canary Islands 0.0 25.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.7 0.0 83.3 0.0 0.0 70.0 Cantabria 0.0 18.8 0.0 15.6 0.0 0.0 66.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 33.3 0.0 0.0 65.6 Castile-La Mancha 33.3 20.6 0.0 3.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 66.7 0.9 0.0 74.8 Castile and León 11.1 0.0 0.0 4.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11.1 0.0 77.8 0.0 0.0 95.4 Catalonia* 0.0 22.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.3 0.0 42.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 42.9 77.3 Valencia 16.7 8.2 0.0 6.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.3 0.0 0.0 83.3 0.0 0.0 71.4 Extremadura 12.5 22.0 0.0 18.6 0.0 0.0 12.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 75.0 0.0 0.0 59.3 Galicia 0.0 20.2 0.0 5.6 0.0 0.0 30.0 0.0 40.0 0.0 30.0 0.0 0.0 74.2 Madrid 0.0 6.7 0.0 6.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 86.7 Murcia 0.0 16.3 0.0 6.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 77.6 Navarra 11.1 22.3 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 44.4 0.0 44.4 1.0 0.0 75.7 � asque Country 50.0 29.1 0.0 7.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 61.8 La Rioja 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 Note. *The areas ‘Knowledge of the Natural Environment’ and ‘Knowledge of the Social and Cultural Environment’ in Catalonia are equated to the Natural Sciences and Social Sciences areas, respectively. Regarding the SocSci area, the relative frequencies of the words that represent the progression to the evolution model were the following: ‘time’ (73.6%), ‘evolution’ (17.5%), ‘inheritance’ (7.6%), ‘adaptation’ (0.3%), ‘extinction’ (0.1%), ‘selection’ (0%), and ‘biodiversity’ (0%) (Figure 1B). The term ‘time’ was frequently mentioned within Block 4: traces of time, which embeds the word in its title. However, its mentioning refers to demographic, landscape, and cultural evolution, and it might have been accompanied by the very same word ‘evolu - tion’ itself (i.e., ‘[...] to initiate students in the knowledge of the construction and evolution of societies over time , starting from a contextualisation in their closest environment’). c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 153 Figure 1 Relative frequency of the words in the NatSci and SocSci areas of the autonomic PE curricula and their average value. The bar errors accompanying the average value correspond to the standard deviation. In relation to the textbooks, Table 5 shows the characteristics of the ac - tivities analysed. Specifically, more than 77% of the proposals responded to a reduced format (short questions). The activities were spread evenly across the different topics, although there were generally more activities at the end of each topic than at the beginning or throughout it. In relation to the context, it is interesting to note that, even in the case of SocSci, most of the activities were integrated into an environmental context. As expected, in the SocSci textbooks, there were significantly more activities framed in a socio-technological con - text than in the NatSci textbooks (90.48% and 79.37%, respectively). Pencil and paper were the material most frequently needed in both topics, followed suc - cessively by the use of drawings and diagrams and bibliographic or websites. In general, more material apart from pencil and paper was needed to do the activities from the NatSci textbooks. Finally, only in activities from the NatSci textbooks was practical material needed (Table 5). 154 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... Table 5 Descriptive statistics of the characterisation of the activities, core ideas, and type of scientific skills: Relative frequency, χ 2 results and p-values in comparisons of Nature Sciences (NatSci) activities and Social Sciences (SocSci) activities NatSci (%) SocSci (%) χ 2 P Length Short 77.78 85.71 1.029 0.310 �road 22.22 14.28 Situation Initial/Integrated 46.03 30.95 2.388 0.122 Final 53.97 69.05 Context Day to day 9.52 0 4.242 4.242 Social/technological 25.39 59.52 12.331 <0.001* Environmental 79.37 90.48 2.293 0.130 Academic 17.46 14.29 0.187 0.187 Material needed Pen and paper 96.83 100 1.359 0.244 Practical material 1.59 0 0.673 0.412 Drawings/diagrams 11.11 2.38 2.729 0.099 �ibliographic material/Webs 12.70 2.38 3.243 0.064 Core ideas Inheritance 4.76 0 2.059 0.151 Selection 14.29 7.14 1.270 0.260 Adaptation 49.21 66.67 3.121 0.077 �iodiversity 38.10 85.71 23.333 <0.001* Extinction 20.63 45.24 7.199 0.007* Scientific skills Type 1 57.14 52.38 0.231 0.631 Type 2 80.95 88.10 0.948 0.330 Type 3 42.86 35.71 0.536 0.464 Type 4 0 7.14 4.632 0.031* With regard to the core ideas, the most present in the activities from NatSci textbooks was ‘adaptation’ (49.21%) and, in the case of SocSci textbooks, ‘biodiversity’ (85.71%), whose presence was surprisingly significantly larger than in the activities from the NatSci textbooks (38.10%). ‘Inheritance’ and ‘se - lection’ are the core ideas with less presence in both cases, although there was a slightly higher presence of them in NatSci textbooks than in SocSci textbooks (Table 5). In relation to the skills promoted by the activities, it can be observed (Figure 2) that Type 2 skills were the most frequent in both subjects, followed successively by Type 1, 3, and 4 skills. In fact, considering that the student can work on one or several types of skills with each activity, most activities included Type 2 skills along with other types of activities in both cases. Although the frequency of Type 4 activities was significantly higher in SocSci than in NatSci, it is interesting to note that, in general, there was hardly any presence of Type 4 activities (0 in NatSci; 3 in SocSci) (Table 5). c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 155 Figure 2 Types of scientific skills promoted in the NatSci and the SocSci textbook activities in 4 th , 5 th , and 6 th grades Discussion The results of this study show the concept of biological evolution is only slightly present in the APEC in Spain. In the case of NatSci, the term ‘evolu - tion’ is not included in every APEC; in most cases, it refers to the impact of science on humanity rather than to the concept of biological evolution. The same occurs in the SocSci area, where ‘evolution’ refers to the historic, cultural, demographic and landscape evolution of humans and their settings. In fact, when analysing the presence of the progression of ideas needed to achieve the evolution model, such as inheritance, selection, adaptation, and biodiversity (Bybee, 2012), we observe an important gap in the construction of the model of evolution in the APEC in Spain. Thus, only the NatSci area covers the topic regarding biodiversity, which represents only the last step of the progression to the knowledge of the NGSS model of evolution (NGSS Lead States, 2013). It should be noted that the idea of selection is not present in any of the areas of any of the APEC, neglecting the aspects of evolution regarding the evidence for shared ancestry, the genetic variation impact on reproduction chances and how natural selection leads to adaptation (Bybee, 2012). These results differ from other countries, such as Sweden, France, England, and the United States, where the core ideas of evolution are included in their EP curricula, and designed pro - gressions are offered in additional official documents (Vázquez-Ben & Bugallo- Rodríguez, 2018). Soon, the APEC will be restructured according to the new Spanish Education law (LOMLOE) and, seemingly, the NatSci and SocSci areas of the APEC will be merged. Such a scenario offers the chance to grasp a deeper view of evolution by studying, in connection, aspects of evolution across topics in areas that were previously disconnected. 156 evolution in the spanish primary education autonomic curricula and textbooks ... In contrast, with regard to the characterisation of the activities, in gen - eral, they respond to a short format, mostly at the end of each topic, which re - quires few resources, with drawings/sketches followed by a bibliography, being the most requested, while specific material for observation/experimentation is hardly necessary. This is in line with previous studies where they observed that, in spite of the changes in format, the textbooks maintain a practically identi - cal structure (Hidalgo Herrera, 2014), with traditional learning processes, in which the exercises are sometimes simple, mechanical, and repetitive and, in many cases, they are limited to filling in gaps, looking at pictures, and copying sentences (Molina Puche & Alfaro Romero, 2019). In relation to the context, most of the activities are integrated into an environmental context. Such fact, together with the fact that the core ideas most present in the NatSci area and the SocSci area are ‘adaptation’ and the change in ‘biodiversity’ often as conse - quences of human activity, seemingly respond to the strong desire to educate children about sustainability in a sustainable manner. Relegating the evolution to the SocSci area, the topic is addressed from a cultural and social perspective. This may lead to a possible loss of the scientific perspective when addressing the topic, failing to promote the scientific educa - tion of citizens in accordance with the social and environmental demands of our times. Indeed, cognitive factors, such as reasoning and perception, influ - ence effective decision making and those with functional scientific literacy will use science content knowledge to make informed decisions (Zohar & Nemet, 2002). Therefore, individuals’ conceptions of evolution can alter the manner in which they consider personal and social issues (Brehm et al., 2003) and can also influence socio-scientific decision-making (Sadler, 2005). Thus, understanding evolution is necessary to make effective and informed decisions about socio- scientific issues such as cloning, stem cell research, gene therapy, vaccines, and biodiversity, among others. Finally, in relation to the types of scientific skills promoted by the ac - tivities related to evolution, we observe that the activities mainly promote Type 2 skills, followed successively by Type 1, 3, and 4 skills. In all cases, the skills that are usually prioritised are those corresponding to the lower cognitive level (identify, describe, observe) and higher cognitive skills such as ‘design experi - ments’ , ‘use evidence/data’ or ‘elaborate arguments’ are not present, or they are very scarce in the textbooks analysed. Other studies have emphasised that school textbooks fail to provide students with satisfactory opportunities to pro - mote scientific skills and facilitate a better understanding of scientific ideas and concepts (García Barros et al., 2021; Martínez Losada & García Barros, 2003; Sideri & Skoumios, 2021). c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 157 Therefore, considering teaching should provide opportunities for stu - dents to use inquiry skills (Osborne, 2014) and apply them in a variety of con - texts and situations (De Pro, 2013), the curricula and textbooks activities related to evolution should avoid ‘rote’ knowledge aimed at ‘knowing the world’ , but not at explaining or investigating it and promote higher cognitive scientific skills. Conclusions In conclusion, the APEC in Spain and science textbooks of the fourth, fifth and sixth PE grades have significant gaps when addressing evolution; therefore, they do not provide opportunities for students to develop scientific skills deeply. As Vázquez-Ben and Bugallo-Rodríguez (2018) suggested, if we approach the teach - ing of evolution too late, learning it will be more difficult. In fact, studies show that students who do not start with certain science topics until secondary school rarely manage to reach the same learning objectives as those who achieved them in pri - mary school (Marco-Bujosa & Levy, 2016). This indicates that helping students to build the model of evolution requires starting at early stages so that they can pro - gress in biological knowledge to be able to make decisions and act correspondingly. The upcoming restructuring of the APEC contents to accommodate them to the new LOMLOE education law provides the opportunity to update the evolution contents. 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(2002). Fostering students’ knowledge and argumentation skills through dilemmas in human genetics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 39 (1), 35–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.10008 c e p s Journal | V ol.13 | N o 1 | Y ear 2023 161 Biographical note Mª Arritokieta Ortuzar Iragorri, PhD, is an assistant professor in the field of didactics of experimental sciences on the Faculty of Education of Bilbao at University of the Basque Country, Spain. She researches on context se - lection for science teaching in First Childhood, Primary Education and Higher Education to favour the students´ scientific competence as well as sustainability and/or the students’ caretaking skills. Teresa Zamalloa, PhD, is an assistant professor in the field of didac - tics of experimental sciences on the Faculty of Education of Bilbao at Univer - sity of the Basque Country, Spain. Her research interests include the teaching/ learning of geology (teacher profile, interpretation centers and student atti - tudes) and the teaching/learning of science (development of scientific compe - tence). Nowadays she investigates on the performance of students in scientific practices so as to develop their scientific competence.