Grades 1-3

Introducing Students to the Fascinating World of Science Helps Them Understand the World They Live In

We teach science in Lower Elementary (Grades 1-3) to build upon our students' natural curiosity about the world they live in. Six-year-olds entering 1st grade are, almost without exception, fascinated by all kinds of phenomena in the physical world around them. As such, they are ready to be introduced to the process of observing systematically and categorizing their observations.

Our science program has three main goals:

• To make careful, curious observers of the world out of our students. Our focus is on helping students to make observations across a wide range of scientific topics, and to let them explore these as much as possible while following their own interests. We want our students to be intensely curious about the world, and to show them how to translate that intense curiosity into careful, deliberate observations.
  
  
• To develop a foundation of scientific observations and vocabulary, upon which later systematic and more theoretical science study can build. Science, at LePort, is always about the world, not about disconnected scientific jargon. Our students first learn to observe, and then to think about their observations. We don't bombard them with advanced theories to memorize; instead, we carefully select observations and simplified explanations that are accessible to them at their developmental level.
  
  
• To develop a fundamental conviction that science can help us understand and live in this world. We want our students to internalize the view that the world out there is a fascinating, relevant topic worthy of their interest and attention. Because we build upon our student's innate curiosity about the world, and because we enable them to explore topics that interest them, the answers they discover are personally meaningful. From the beginning, science is a tool for them to satisfy their desire to understand the world. It is practical and useful; it is interesting and rewarding; and it is a subject they enjoy and are eager to pursue.

Focus on the World, Not Scientific Jargon—Observation First, Explanation Second

Our science program raises interesting questions, and then guides the students as they observe, classify and draw conclusions. Throughout, students actively apply what they learn: they work with classification cards; they conduct experiments; they observe demonstrations, answer questions and summarize their observations. Our science program is always about understanding the world, not about scientific jargon, which is why we do not ask students to study lessons from traditional textbooks, and memorize theories by rote.

Instead, our students might:

• Use animal classification cards to make real to themselves why different vertebrae are grouped into different classes. They study fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
  
  
• Conduct simple experiments in physical science. They may observe that air takes up volume by placing a funnel tightly into a bottle, and watching what happens when they pour water into it, or by trying to blow up a balloon in a bottle.
  
  
• Observe large-scale, long time physical developments, such as the formation of rivers, erosion and sedimentation by means of simplified physical models. The teacher may create a v-shaped "river model" with clay, colored sand and pebbles, and by pouring water, show them how rivers form, how they carry soft earth downstream, how pebbles get swept away, and how sediment layers form in river deltas.
  
  
• Go outside and observe nature. They may find constellations in the night sky, observe birds and ants in the school yard, or collect plant specimen on field trips.

While we focus primarily on observations and first-level explanations that our students can independently understand, we also help them gain an appreciation of the power of science to explain the world. For example, in chemistry, we don't have lower elementary students memorize the parts of an atom, or study the periodic table of elements, theories which are beyond their comprehension, and which don't have explanatory value to them. Instead, our students handle different materials; they experiment with solutions and compounds, they experience changes in the state of matter—and as a result, acquire the capacity to investigate and understand more abstract content. We may introduce some scientific insights that they will only grasp partially now (and will learn more about in the upper grades)—such as the fact that the earth rotates around the sun—if and when these theories help directly explain observations the children themselves can make and contemplate. (For example, the rotations of the earth around the sun help explain the seasons, the reason for time zones, the changing lengths of shadows, and can be illustrated in the classroom with simple models to make them real to 2nd or 3rd graders.) But this is always the way that science (and every other subject) works; the students start off with a preliminary and incomplete grasp of something, and then they gradually gain a more comprehensive, sophisticated understanding as they progress in the schooling.

As our students learn to observe, to classify, to ask questions and look for answers, they come to recognize that the source of knowledge is not the printed word in a book, but the observations which gave rise to that word. Through their own observations, they come to acquire a respect for, and interest in, the workings of the natural world. Exploring a range of content, they build a base of observational data, and leave the program eager and ready to learn more.

A Broad Base of Representative Observational Knowledge Across The Life Sciences and Physical Sciences

Our elementary science program ranges broadly across the life sciences and physical sciences. We ensure our students are exposed to some content from each. Within each area, we provide them the opportunity to delve deeper depending on their own interests. Our goal is to train our students to observe carefully, discover interesting questions, and use their observations and research to answer them. The goal at this age is not to cover each area exhaustively, or even to ensure each student acquires a specific body of knowledge in each. Rather, we want to introduce students to the interesting questions and puzzles of science, by means of some representative, selective content.

We thus give our students plenty of choice regarding what to explore, and how deeply they want to follow their interests. Each classroom may cover different areas of science from year to year. Our program follows a 3-year-cycle to ensure our students are exposed to a broad range of areas and specific topics during their time in the Lower Elementary classroom.

The following list gives an indication of the kinds of topics our students study:

• Life Sciences. Our life sciences curriculum consists largely of botany and zoology. Children are naturally interested in plants and animals, and eagerly embrace the process of observing and classifying them. Learning more about plants and animals—especially those they encounter in their lives outside of school—ensures that science satisfies their curiosity about the world "out there", and thus is meaningful to them.
  
  
• Botany. We ensure our students understand the basic structure of plants, the function of the key parts, and the differences between plants and animals. We introduce our students to different types of plants, and help them observe and classify the plants they encounter in their surroundings.
  
  
• Zoology. Our students study the different classes of animals, and gain an applied understanding of the traits characterizing different animals (e.g., how they move, what they use for protection, what they eat and how they digest it). Our goal is for students to be able to look at the bodily systems of an animal, classify the animal, and draw conclusions about its nature from this classification. Once they are grounded in these basic observational facts, we encourage students to research a more advanced topic that interests them. For example, a student may investigate the life cycles of animals, or how animals in the same class may differ based on where they live (e.g. desert vs. prairie vs. forests).

• Physical sciences. Our focus here is to introduce our students to a broad range of interesting observations, and to help them develop basic skills, such as measuring, observing and recording observations.
  
  
• Sun & Earth. We introduce our students to the special relationship of the sun to our planet. For example, they learn that it is connected to the seasons, solstices & equinoxes, temperature zones, and so on. Through this work, our students gain an understanding of lines of latitude and longitude, and time zones.

• Geology and functional geography. To help students understand the world around them, we study the work of water (e.g. erosion, the formation of rivers, and sedimentation) and the work of air (e.g. that it rises when heated, insulates, and circulates in a pattern). Throughout, we highlight the observations that are accessible to them given their knowledge, emphasizing both vocabulary development and careful observation.
  
  
• Chemistry. Our goal in chemistry is to introduce our students to the idea that everything around them is made up of matter (of "stuff")—and that this stuff can come in many different forms. We discuss phases of matter (solid, liquid, gaseous); we highlight certain properties of matter (for example, the surface tension of a liquid, the fact that air takes up space, etc.); we contrast mixtures and compounds. Part of the purpose here is to expose students to ideas that they will revisit systematically later in their schooling, and to pique their interest in advanced scientific inquiry. Throughout, our students learn to question, to predict, to observe and to measure.
  
  
• Simple machines/introduction to mechanics. We study the earliest machines used by human beings, and see how applied technology, even at its most basic level, made human life better. We may experiment with inclined planes, levers, wheels and axles, and pulleys—experiments that help students understand their world better. They can see these items in action around them, and are motivated to explore their operations further.