Science

Sustainability is a critical component of the fifth-grade science curriculum as we investigate the components of our Earth. The year begins with students learning to identify forms of energy and how they relate to our daily lives. We spend the remaining part of the trimester diving into an investigation of aquatic organisms and our water ecosystems on Earth in order to understand the impact of drought and water pollution. Our focus then transitions to learning about our atmosphere, and how a changing climate can affect local habits and weather patterns across the globe. Students learn to integrate technology into our hands-on exploration of climate and storms by using weather tools and becoming a meteorologist. The year culminates with an opportunity to apply engineering design while researching our Earth’s natural resources. Throughout the year, students collect and analyze data from experiments and make connections to their own lives while working on interdisciplinary projects.

 

The physical world is a rich source of phenomena that sparks curiosity in young adults. Students in Grade 6 begin the year by describing motion and the forces that cause changes in motion. Each student makes a personal connection to the main concepts in the Motion Passion Project, relating information from the unit to their everyday lives. Students then embark on the LAUNCH engineering process to design, build and test flying vehicles that drop down and jump off a six-foot ramp. A unit on work and simple machines connects forces and motion to how machines change work to make it easier. Each spring, students learn about electricity and magnetism before they engage in an interdisciplinary project—This American Life. The year culminates with a robotics unit that is based on a challenge-by-choice series of game missions. Additionally, the second half of the year involves a Genius Hour design project on sustainability.

 

In environmental chemistry, we are examining the critical role that elements have in our society and our planet. In trimester 1, we will be looking at the building blocks of our universe by starting with our earliest-known elements: hydrogen, helium, lithium and beryllium. We will focus on how our world was formed and how these elements led to the creation of other elements. In trimester 2, we transition into analyzing and experimenting with the elements, molecules and compounds that sustain life on Earth. In trimester 3, we concentrate on the positive and negative impact that chemistry has on our environment. Our goal within the course is to provide students with strong foundation knowledge prior to entering the Upper School where students will have the opportunity to take Honors, AP and/or Organic Chemistry.