Science & Health
Third and fourth graders are introduced to the Scientific Method and the steps in a STEM Investigation. We implement the 4 C's every week in our Friday STEM Challenge.
Major topics in third grade Science and Health are Structures of Life in Plants and Animals (big Bats Unit, thanks to the Congdon Park Foundation), Achieving and Maintaining Health, The Sun, Moon, and Stars, Personal and Social Behavior, Light, Safety and Environmental Issues, and the Physics of Sound. We take three Science Field Trips, to the Lake Superior Zoo, Adler Planetarium, and the other to East High School to learn from the Orchestra students and teachers.
In fourth grade, topics include Magnets, Electricity, and Circuits, The Body's Defense Systems, Water, Rocks and Minerals, and Personal and Social Behaviors. We have friends from UMD Swenson College of Science and Engineering visit to help enrich our unit on circuitry and electricity and may take a trip to UMD to learn about minerals that make up rocks over time. Parents make themselves available toteach us about body systems and Water, usually.
Our Media Center has some new STEM and MakerSpace tools, thanks to the Congdon Park Foundation. We'll explore these new tools inside and outside our school.