Science is a regular part of every Beginner’s day. Children are encouraged to actively explore and share their ideas about the natural and physical world around them. Activities are hands-on and project-based. They reinforce student interests and support and extend ideas being explored in the classroom.
The focus is on using primary materials and exposure to scientific vocabulary. Below are some of the skills we work on throughout the year.
Generating questions
Predicting outcomes
Making observations
Representing knowledge through writing, drawing, building, and graphing
Using scientific tools (magnifying glasses, eye droppers, balance scales, etc.)
SCIENCE IN KINDERGARTEN
Grade K THEMATIC STUDY: ALL ABOUT US
(One 45-minute class each week)
Kindergartners are natural scientists and engineers. Their days are filled with opportunities to build, take apart, sort, observe, compare, question, and experiment. The students travel to the Lower School science lab in The Hub once per week for one hour. The science specialist works with the gradeheads to integrate science into the curriculum.
In keeping with their Thematic Study, "All About Us," the science themes consist of a study of how we use our five senses to learn about the world, as well as an exploration of the organ systems within the human body. Science activities are hands-on explorations, and include: making nerve cells, using prisms to create rainbows, building noisemakers, designing ears, and constructing models of the heart and lungs.
SCIENCE IN GRADE I
GRADE I THEMATIC STUDY: COMMUNITY
(Three 60-minute classes every 10 days)
Students travel to the Lower School science lab in The Hub, two times per cycle, but there also is science learning centered in the gradehead classrooms. Activities and projects encourage the students to explore and discover. Lessons serve to introduce new ideas, materials and procedures, and to provide opportunities to ask questions, set up experiments, solve problems, analyze data, and make inferences. Central to our work is learning how to communicate our ideas effectively through collaboration, discussions, and drawing and writing in science journals.
Projects and activities are rooted in the Thematic Study of community and include: food growth and distribution, components of soil, beneficial insects, earthworms, composting, gardening, photosynthesis, pollination, cooking chemistry, weather, and related engineering projects.
SCIENCE IN GRADE II.
GRADE II THEMATIC STUDY: THE CHARLES RIVER
(Three 60-minute classes every 10-day cycle)
Students travel to the new lower school science lab in the Hub three times per cycle, but there also is science learning centered in the gradehead classrooms. Activities and projects encourage the students to explore and discover. Lessons serve to introduce new ideas, materials and procedures, and to provide opportunities to ask questions, set up experiments, solve problems, analyze data, and make inferences. Central to our work is learning how to communicate our ideas effectively through collaboration, discussions, and drawing and writing in science journals.
Projects and activities are rooted in the Thematic Study of the Charles River, and include: river formation, soil erosion, properties of water, bridges and dams, simple machines, engineering river vehicles, and studies of the fish and animals that live in and around the river.
SCIENCE IN GRADE III
GRADE III THEMATIC STUDY; WHALES
(Five 50-minute classes )
Science is an integral part of the thematic study of whales, and the Science Department acts as a resource to the grade heads in supporting the classroom curriculum. Science activities encourage students to enhance their observational and experimental techniques. The topics covered include: size and scale, ancient life, echolocation, whale food, how animals stay warm in water, navigation, weather and how it affects the oceans, ocean currents, and conservation.
Students also undertake a number of STEM projects, in which students combine math topics with engineering. For example, they design and build model boats, build insulated bags, and model ocean floor mapping.
SCIENCE IN GRADE IV
GRADE IV THEMATIC STUDY: THE TINY HOUSE PROJECT
(Seven 50-minute classes every 10 days)
This course utilizes hands-on activities and personal experience to develop an understanding of the physical world. Students learn science by working collaboratively to investigate phenomenon by collecting data, interpreting results, and developing conclusions. Fourth graders engage in the process of engineering and design. The process challenges students to innovate and apply their understandings toward developing solutions to problems.
We engage in a yearlong S.T.E.A.M. activity called The Tiny House Project. Students design and build a prototype of a house on a budget. Throughout the year, students layer technologies onto the house that relate to content being investigated. Classes meet three or four times per week. Students keep a journal of their challenges, ideas, and projects. The topics explored in fourth grade science include: structures, robotics, electricity, heat, and light.
SCIENCE IN GRADE V
GRADE V THEMATIC STUDY: HOW DO MACHINES CHANGE THE NATURE OF WORK?;
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN; WETLANDS
(Seven 50-minute periods over ten days)
Fifth Grade Science begins with a study of simple machines. Students perform experiments, complete engineering design challenges, and investigate models and simulations to understand the essential question, “How do machines change the nature of work?”
Students explore different forms of energy, focusing on energy transfers and how simple machines can make things more efficient. Engineering projects, like designing a catapult and building an original wind turbine, are included in many of the units to give students hands-on experience solving real-world problems with scientific concepts.
Later in the year, students study crayfish and complete a unit on experimental design, learning how to ask investigative questions, create experimental procedures, collect robust data, and use data to draw conclusions. In the spring they investigate acids and bases and learn about the pH scale. During this unit, students have ample opportunity to work in groups, follow a procedure, and make meaning from data. Segueing into a unit on water chemistry, students learn about the unique properties of water and look critically at the problem of ocean acidification.
Finally, students take their learning outside to complete an in-depth investigation of the wetlands at Shady Hill. By transporting their knowledge of the pH scale and looking closely at the living things in the ecosystem, students learn how to assess the health of our wetlands. Fifth Grade science also includes a unit on puberty and human reproduction. Before this unit begins, families are provided with an overview of the topics studied, as well as a bibliography of possible resources. Throughout the year, students focus on science skills such as collaboration, science writing, and experimental design.