FROM PROJECT TO CRITICAL THINKING: FOOD CHAIN LEARNING IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Critical thinking is an essential skill in 21st-century learning; however, science education in primary schools still faces challenges in encouraging students to analyze cause-and-effect relationships, evaluate changes, and understand the interconnections among ecosystem components. In the topic of food chains, the concepts of energy flow and relationships among organisms are also relatively complex, requiring active and contextualized learning. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the Project-Based Learning (PjBL) model on fifth-grade students’ critical thinking skills in learning about food chains. The study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental method with a non-equivalent control group design. The population consisted of 131 fifth-grade students at SD Negeri 79 Ambon, with Class V-A comprising 24 students as the experimental group and Class V-B comprising 23 students as the control group. Data were collected using a structured essay test that had been established as valid and reliable and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, normality and homogeneity tests, and an independent-samples t-test at a significance level of 0.05. The results showed that students’ critical thinking skills in the experimental group increased to the very high category, whereas those in the control group remained in the moderate category. The t-test yielded a significance value of 0.013 < 0.05, indicating a significant effect of the PjBL model on students’ critical thinking skills. The implementation of a Food Chain diorama project encouraged students to identify problems, plan activities, evaluate information, formulate arguments, and draw logical conclusions. Thus, PjBL had a positive and significant effect on students’ critical thinking skills. Teachers are encouraged to implement PjBL with appropriate guidance, while schools should provide adequate facilities and teacher training. Future research may expand the study in terms of research settings, duration, and learning topics.