By learning about the problems of heritage preservation (conservation and protection of cultural heritage) and by creating fine art products with interesting solutions based on well-known facts from their surroundings, students build and strengthen their critical attitude towards problems of heritage preservation. The purpose of this research was to study whether it would be possible to include the contents of heritage preservation along with the contents of the current curriculum in regular fine art classes in primary schools. Research has shown that the results of teaching with the help of various teaching methods, teaching media, fine art materials and with different ways of fine art expression (fine art motives) were positive. Students came up with interesting solutions when carrying out their fine art assignments and they also displayed greater ability of critical judgement and evaluation of heritage care. To date, there has been no research in Slovenia on the possibilities of raising awareness of the importance of heritage preservation within fine art classes.

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The primary purpose of this paper is to identify the level of interest and knowledge about fine art materials (in selected works of art) that can influence pre-service primary school, chemistry, and fine art teachers’ implementation of this content into their teaching. This knowledge can help them be aware of how a specific fine art material can be used in fine art classes. Fine art materials can also be applied in different manners by chemistry teachers and primary school teachers (science lessons) to explain the specific chemical characteristics of these substances. Altogether, 118 pre-service teachers from the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana participated in the study. The data were collected using three instruments: information about participants (IP), fine art materials achievement test (FAMAT), and individual interest questionnaire (IIQ), which comprise items for self-concept. It can be concluded that pre-service teachers’ average score (49.6%) on FAMAT is quite low. The results also showed that pre-service fine art teachers achieved better results than the other two groups did. Similar results were also obtained regarding participants’ interest and self-concept in learning about fine art materials. It can be concluded that more emphasis should be placed on developing the understanding of chemical and fine art concepts due to the fact that fine art and chemistry can be interdisciplinarily connected in education, according to contemporary curricular guidelines.

<p style="text-align: justify;">In this article we present research on Slovenian primary school teachers' opinion about the interdisciplinary approach between fine art and science education. With the help of questionnaires, interviews, and analysis of lesson plans, we determined how primary school teachers use this type of interdisciplinary approach, how often and what their views are. We included 138 primary school teachers from every region in Slovenia. It turned out that primary school teachers in Slovenia use an interdisciplinary approach between fine art and science teaching quite often and consider it useful to achieve different aspects of pupils' development. The study revealed that most teachers find it difficult to consider the educational goals of both fields (fine art, science). They often use the connection between the subjects only on an associative level - they only mention the teaching content of one subject quickly and carelessly, without making meaningful connections and without achieving the goals of both subjects. Content taught in this way cannot be considered a cross-curricular approach in the subject sense.</p>