Science
GRADE FIVE | GRADE SIX | GRADE SEVEN | GRADE EIGHT
The Science program is inquiry-based, emphasizing hands-on activities that lead to an understanding of concepts. Students design and conduct investigations and use appropriate tools and technology to gather, analyze, and interpret data. They learn to communicate scientific conclusions verbally and in writing. The students are taught how to integrate math skills into their analyses and how to use computer technology for research, data analysis, and presentations.
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Grade Five
Fifth graders begin the year by learning to use the equipment in the science lab and to take accurate measurements. They immediately apply this knowledge in a unit on weather. Taking full advantage of the terrace outside the science room, they record temperature and humidity and may make their own devices to measure wind speed. This hands-on work is combined with an in-depth study of climate, the atmosphere, and factors affecting weather. A web-quest on hurricanes, done in conjunction with the Computer Science instructor, enhances this unit.
Since the curriculum in grade five focuses on earth science, the students also study geology, including rocks, minerals, earthquakes, and volcanoes. They study various samples, learn to test for properties of minerals, and even make their own “mock rocks.”
Students study astronomy, with an emphasis on the solar system, stars, and galaxies. By apping into NASA’s website, the latest explorations and discoveries are incorporated into this unit. It culminates with a “trading card project” in which each student designs and produces his or her own fact-filled pack of cards. The year ends with a “Metric Festival” that allows the fifth graders to share what they have learned with the students of the Lower School. Fourth graders come to play the games that the fifth graders construct to demonstrate ways of measuring length, mass, and volume.
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Grade Six
Sixth graders begin the year with a unit on variables that serves as an action-filled introduction to the steps of the scientific method. The students ask questions, formulate hypotheses, and then design investigations using a variety of swinging objects to answer those questions. They also interview adults—usually their parents—to learn how even non-scientists use science in their professional lives. The sixth grade curriculum focuses on living things and their environment, beginning with the study of cells, including cell theory, plant and animal cells, and respiration and photosynthesis. The students then move on to study biomes, ecosystems, pollution, and environmental solutions. They analyze a food chain by examining owl pellets. The unit on the earth's waters teaches students about ocean life, tides, and currents and includes a study of coral reefs.
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Grade Seven
The seventh grade curriculum highlights life science and begins with an inquiry into the characteristics of cells, mitosis, tissues, and organ systems.
A unit on genetics is followed by an in-depth study of the human body's systems. Lab experiences range from dissecting a chicken wing to testing foods for their nutritional value, from looking at tissues under the microscope to constructing model lungs. Students learn the history and rules of scientific classification and survey the five kingdoms: monera, protista, fungi, plantae, and animalia. Live specimens are examined, and seventh graders have the opportunity to dissect a squid in order to investigate the internal and external organs of a marine mollusk.
The seventh graders participate in a Science Fair, choosing their own topics and conducting experiments that follow the scientific method.
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Grade Eight
The eighth grade curriculum highlights the physical sciences - chemistry and physics. Students learn about matter, mixtures, elements, compounds, and the Periodic Table and then move on to study chemical bonds and reactions, and families of chemical compounds. Each student completes an “Element Project,” doing research and then producing a report and a creative presentation about his or her element.
In physics, students learn about motion, forces, energy, and waves. Measurement, data collection, and graphing skills are emphasized during these units.
Grade eight students participate in a simulated “Mission to the Moon” in a program developed by NASA. In addition to building on the astronomy facts they studied in fifth grade, the students learn first-hand how scientists and astronauts work co-operatively to solve problems. This field trip is one of the highlights of the year.
Eighth graders also participate in a Science Fair. Building on the type of work they did in seventh grade, the students conduct more complicated experimental projects using the scientific method. They also research and write a formal report on a topic related to their experiment.
As a way of encouraging the students to realize how integral a role science plays in their lives, each eighth grade student keeps a Science Current Events Journal for the year. Every two weeks, they add a new article from a newspaper or magazine to their Journal, summarize its content, and explain why the article was chosen and how it applies to their lives.
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