Science

SCIENCE COURSES

ECOLOGY

Required for Grade 6 This course is designed to introduce students to the natural world around them. Students begin the year by studying the role honeybees play in their ecosystem. Students visit the apiary on campus, build their own hive box to add to the apiary, and extract honey. Students also compete in National Geographic’s GeoChallenge, a project-based competition that challenges students to design an innovative solution to a unique environmental problem. For the remainder of the year, students explore field, forest and aquatic ecosystems inside and outside of the classroom, and the human impacts on these ecosystems.

HUMAN BIOLOGY

Required for Grade 7 This course allows students to explore the structural organization of the human body from cells to organ systems. Students are introduced to the scientific method, cell theory, cell reproduction, genetics and the human body systems. The emphasis of this course will focus on how to be healthy and how the body keeps itself healthy. Students learn how to work both collaboratively and individually. Laboratory work emphasizes making careful observations, learning correct measuring and data collection techniques, analyzing data, and discussing errors. Lab work, dissections, study skills, and current events will be integral parts of this course.

EARTH SCIENCE

Required for Grade 8 This course introduces students to the many major topics of Earth Science, including weathering and erosion, plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes and geologic history. In addition, students will explore the solar system, stellar evolution, galaxies, and the origin of the universe. Through numerous inquiry-based labs students will become proficient

with the scientific method and gain valuable laboratory skills that include data collection and display, analysis, and interpretation. Students also will engage in many student-driven projects and develop essential research and communication skills as they explore topics that pique their interest.

STEAM IN ACTION 6

Required for Grade 6 This course introduces the basic concepts of coding, robotics, and engineering in an interactive environment fostering collaboration, creativity, and communication. Students will develop coding skills through the Scratch programming language, focusing on sequences, loops, and conditionals as well as exploring through their own projects. Students will further apply their programming skills through challenges utilizing Dash robot. Students also will engage in hands-on projects to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts in civil engineering, such as tension and compression and how these forces are at work in various structures. Finally, students will explore environmental engineering through projects on environmental cleanup, water contamination, waste disposal, air pollution, and alternative energy sources.

STEAM IN ACTION 7

Required for Grade 7 This course builds on the skills in coding, robotics, and engineering developed in STEAM in Action 6. Through this hands-on, projectbased course, students will continue to develop coding skills through the Scratch programming language, focusing on functions, variables, and “for loops” as well as exploring their own project in animation. Students will further apply their programming skills through challenges utilizing Sphero robot. Students also will engage in projects to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts in mechanical engineering, such as mechanical advantage and what that means for simple machines.

STEAM IN ACTION 8

Required for Grade 8 This course builds on the skills in coding, robotics, and engineering developed in STEAM in Action 6 and 7. Students will apply their knowledge of sequences, loops, conditionals, functions, variables, and “for loops” by developing their own game apps in the Scratch programming language. Students will also build coding skills in HTML and CSS, culminating in a project on website design. Students will further apply their programming skills through challenges utilizing LEGO Mindstorms. Students also will develop projects to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts in electrical engineering, such as circuits and electric power.