Kindergartners connect to the natural world around them through an exciting, hands-on science program. Thoughtful investigations and careful observations are integrated in their everyday life in the classroom, the wildlife garden, the adjacent park, and on study trips. Each year, they learn about one particular habitat in depth (for example, fresh-water creeks and ponds), exploring life cycles and relationships.
First through Fourth Grade Science
The First – Fourth Grade science program is designed to teach students to observe and understand their world through exploration and the use of the scientific method. Students experience hands-on, lab-based, integrated lessons in life, physical, and environmental science. These lessons allow them to discover concepts in a creative manner while, at the same time, learning the process of science. The "spiraling" method, by which concepts are revisited and built upon at each grade level, helps them gain a deeper understanding of science as they progress through the school. Instruction takes place in the classroom and extends into the community at large. Many lessons involve the park across the street and our own organic vegetable garden.
In the first and second grades, the science program relies primarily on the process of discovery and exploration. Basic skills and vocabulary are integrated into each lesson.
In grades three and four, in addition to discovery and exploration, emphasis is placed on the understanding and use of the scientific method. Students begin to design, carry out, and evaluate their experiments. Basic skills are reinforced and are incorporated into higher level skills involving process and inquiry.
First Grade
Being a Scientist
Garden Observations and Community
Cycles of Change
Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Mixtures
Characteristics of Life
Ecology of the Garden: Insects, Plants, Earthworms, Gardening, Water Cycle
The fifth grade science program continues to use the spiraling method used in grades 1-4. Science strands introduce the basic skills and continue to reinforce metric measurements and accuracy, quantification of results, and scientific testing. The scientific method is woven throughout the year's teaching. Units include the study of variables, electricity, microorganisms, environmental science and health. There is a specialized focus on health and human physiology: learning differences, the immune system, and family life. Cooperative learning is encouraged through activities and class discussions. Students work with parent scientists and participate in field trips to the Lawrence Hall of Science, local parks and beaches, EBMUD, and the Marin Headlands.
Sixth Grade
Sixth grade science is a hands-on, integrated exploration of topics in earth systems science, archeology, physics, nutrition, and human development. The course begins by considering what humans need for physical survival. In the context of food as a basic need, students study the development of agriculture and differences among modern systems of farming. They also consider consequences and constituents of a healthy diet. This prepares students for a weeklong trip to Live Power Farm taken with their homeroom. Next, students consider our place in the universe. Our investigations of physics cover work and simple machines, and Newton's Laws of Motion. At the close of the school year students study human growth and development in the context of adolescents' changing bodies.
Sixth grade students deepen their understanding of the scientific method in a cooperative learning environment. They apply quantitative and analytical skills to topics in physical, earth, and biological sciences. The course takes a constructivist approach to science and strives to develop scientific inquiry skills including observing; collecting, interpreting, and analyzing data; hypothesizing; classifying; and controlling variables.
Seventh Grade – Physical Science
Seventh grade science is a physical science course with emphasis on the kinetic particulate model. The year is divided between studying matter and energy. These are used as the foundation for life science in eighth grade. The underlying principle continues to be “learning to think like a scientist”. Students are introduced to a wide range of natural phenomena and are encouraged to construct concepts and discover knowledge through direct experience with materials mostly in a laboratory setting. Emphasis is placed on asking testable questions and using experimentation and systematic observation and measurement to discover answers. The scientific method thus continues to be taught through direct practice. For example, there is an extended comparison between water ice and dry ice (CO2) culminating in student designed experiments to answer questions of theirs about dry ice.
Units of study include "Bubbleology," a consumer-testing project, measurement, states of matter, chemistry, heat, and light. Experimental and measurement skills introduced and developed in previous years continue to be refined with greater emphasis on accuracy, precision, and clarity of presentation. Test preparation and test taking skills take on an increasing role.
Eighth Grade – Life Science
Eighth grade science is a life science course. While continuing the underlying principle of “learning to think like a scientist", greater emphasis is placed on mastering a particular body of knowledge. Biochemistry and the behavior of molecules is used as the unifying theme to tie together units including human reproduction, microscopy, biochemistry, cells, heredity, molecular genetics, and evolution. Biochemistry is chosen to prepare students for the most rigorous aspects of high school science. Methods of study focus on taking notes from lectures and a variety of text sources, building models, experimenting, and presenting material. The topics are explored in unusual depth. For example, in the unit on human reproduction, students carry out primary research into the cost of raising a child and use computer technology to present the information as a spreadsheet. Test preparation and test-taking skills continue to be explicitly developed even more comprehensively than in previous years.
