LOWER SCHOOL SCIENCE

The Lower School science curriculum introduces students to life, physical, and earth sciences. Students learn to carefully observe events and the world around them and to ask questions about their observations which can be answered through investigation. Students are taught the importance of recording their observations and looking for patterns in the records. As they progress from one level to another, they learn measurement skills using a variety of tools including rulers, thermometers, and balances. In their investigations, students begin to learn the process skills of developing hypotheses, controlling variables, identifying cause and effect relationships, and drawing conclusions. Computers are used to find information on the World Wide Web and to prepare and present information. In the fifth grade, students learn to use the computer to record and display data in chart and graph form and to communicate experimental results and conclusions through laboratory reports.

Units taught in the Lower School science curriculum include:

Grade 2

• Seasons
• Habitat
• Weather
• The Water Cycle
• Endangered Species
• Seeds and Plant Growth

Grade 3 - SCIS 3, Level 3

• Rocks and Minerals
• The Structure of the Earth
• Volcanoes
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Life Cycles

Grade 4 - SCIS 3, Level 4

• Environmental Factors
• Changes in the Environment
• Responses of Organisms to Changes in the Environment
• Weather
• Relative Position and Motion
• Rectangular coordinates
• Polar Coordinates
• Relative Position of the Sun, Earth and Moon

Grade 5 - SCIS II, Level 5
LEGO LOGO and Teacher-Made Units

Energy Transfer Experiments and Computer Skills:

• Paper Airplanes
• Pendulums
• Rotoplanes
• Stopper Poppers
• Ramps and Sliders
• Spreadsheet and Graphing
• Light and Sound
• LEGO LOGO
• Seed Parts and Plant Growth/Greenhouse Project
• Food Chain and Webs
• Producers, Herbivores, Carnivores
• Decomposers and Raw Materials (Community Concept)