School Education Environment as a Resource for the Development of the Natural Science Literacy of the 7-8 Grade Students

This work is devoted to the problem of the natural-science education in regular school. The comparative analysis of Russian and foreign natural-science education is presented here. School educational environment is reviewed here as a resource for the development of the natural-science literacy of the pupils. Educational environment resources used in Moscow schools for the development of the natural-science literacy of the pupils are presented in this work. The educational environment analysis is made on the basis of the following investigations: "School objectives", " School environment "(V.V. Rubtsov) and on the results of the guide-interviews with teachers and school administration. This work identified the key elements in the educational process management, educational environment resources and basic teaching methods used by the teachers at the lessons for the development of the natural-science literacy of the pupils. The majority of the interviewed people suppose that the key resources of the educational environment, contributing to the development of the natural-science literacy of the pupils are the personality of the teacher, social partnership and material support. Traditional forms of work prevail at the lessons while project and researching activity is executed at non-school hours in coordination with the social partners. Key words: natural-science education, natural-science literacy, PISA, educational environment, school environment resources.