Breadcrumbs

Science

Understanding the world we live in.

In Lower School science, students construct their science knowledge by becoming young scientists.  As student skills progress, their knowledge of science is refined and supported by their lab experiments.  The Lower School science program uses a “spiral” approach in which concepts and skills taught in Kindergarten circle upward as they are refined, strengthened, and expanded upon in successive grades.  

The study of weather is just one example of this. In Kindergarten we learn by asking and answering questions. What is weather? What tools do we use to measure weather? In second grade we make models of weather instruments and go outside to measure wind direction.  Fifth graders study weather on Earth, and then look at how climate change is changing our weather.  Later, fifth grade scientists investigate renewable sources of energy such as solar heating and wind energy.

Our hands on, project-based curriculum challenges students to think like scientists. Students keep science journals where they take notes, illustrate what they’ve learned, and pose questions.

 

Key Characteristics

  • Students from K through 5th grade study concepts from Life, Physical, and Earth and Space Science

  • The curriculum follows the framework of the Next Generation Science Standards

  • Students collaborate during investigations, model building, and presentations

Curricular Highlights

Outdoor Trip to The Schuylkill Nature Center where fourth grade conducts a stream study that connects with the fourth grade water theme.

Egg Drop challenges fifth grade students to keep an egg from breaking when dropped from two stories high.

Engineering & Design offers third grade students the chance to draw and then build their dream playground. The project, done in pairs, hones skills in communication, iterative design, simple machines, and translation from the second dimension to the third. 

Field trips deepen student understanding of the material and offer new experiences that bring the curriculum to life.