There has been a longstanding interest in the kinds of scientific knowledge that primary science learners must know and be able to do, which comprise the intellectual demands in this subject. These prescriptions chiefly take guidance from national curriculum documents, especially in the form of their learning outcomes (LO) or learning standards. Using the concepts of semantic density (SD) and semantic gravity (SG), we formulate a novel coding scheme for primary science LO based on Semantics and Legitimation Code Theory. We demonstrate how SD and SG provide insights into the levels of complexity and abstraction respectively from a mix of qualitative and quantitative criteria that we devised. We empirically test the utility of this coding scheme by comparing present reformed primary science LO with their previous versions across three East-Asian regions. It was shown that their LO were not significantly different over versions in terms of SD/SG, had typically one to two learning points, favoured more context-dependent expressions, and were predominantly coded as SD-SG+. This research provides a complementary method of determining the intellectual demands of science curricula in terms of complexity and abstraction of LO that has implications for science teaching as well as the improvement of epistemological access for learners.

长期以来，人们一直对初级科学学习者必须知道和能够做到的科学知识种类感兴趣，这些知识构成了该学科的智力需求。这些处方主要从国家课程文件中获取指导​​，特别是在其学习成果（LO）或学习标准的形式上。使用语义密度（SD）和语义引力（SG）的概念，我们制定了一种基于语义和合法化代码理论的初级科学 LO 编码方案。我们展示了 SD 和 SG 如何分别从我们设计的定性和定量标准的组合中提供对复杂性和抽象级别的洞察。我们通过比较当前改革后的初级科学 LO 与它们在三个东亚地区的先前版本来经验性地测试这种编码方案的效用。结果表明，它们的 LO 在 SD/SG 方面与版本没有显着差异，通常具有一到两个学习点，更倾向于与上下文相关的表达，并且主要编码为 SD-SG+。这项研究提供了一种补充方法来确定科学课程的智力需求，即 LO 的复杂性和抽象性，这对科学教学以及改进学习者的认识论途径都有影响。并且主要编码为 SD-SG+。这项研究提供了一种补充方法来确定科学课程的智力需求，即 LO 的复杂性和抽象性，这对科学教学以及改进学习者的认识论途径都有影响。并且主要编码为 SD-SG+。这项研究提供了一种补充方法来确定科学课程的智力需求，即 LO 的复杂性和抽象性，这对科学教学以及改进学习者的认识论途径都有影响。