Science
Each unit in science will be totally hands-on, with students asking essential questions at the start of every lesson. Throughout the experiments, students will be recording their findings in their Science Notebooks. Upon the conclusion of the lesson, students, with the teacher as their guide, will revisit the essential question and seek to come to an agreement as to how to answer it.
We will be studying the following units this year:
We will be studying the following units this year:
- Energy & Matter: In this unit, we will be developing the idea that matter is the stuff from which all common and familiar objects and materials are made. Energy is usually defined as the ability to do work. We will also come to know energy as the causal agent behind every action or activity. We will explore sources of energy, such as the Sun, batteries, fuels, and food and identify forms of energy, such as electricity, heat, light, sound, and moving masses.
- Earth & Sky: In this unit, we will observe soils and explore how the weathering of rocks provides the basic ingredients that form soil. We will also model erosion and deposition using stream tables to show how earth materials move and shape new landforms. Later, we will study how changes in the earth can be due to slow processes such as erosion, as well as rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. In addition, we will also study earth materials as important natural resources. Finally, we will look into Earth’s sky to observe, measure, record, and compare day-to-day weather changes. We will then step into space to model the Sun-Earth-Moon system and identify the planets in Earth’s solar system.
- Structures of Life: In this module, we will be sharing space in our classroom with plants and crayfish to learn about life cycles. We will also be studying the human skeleton and finding out how our bones and muscles function to provide us with support, movement, and protection.