Throughout the Middle School science program, students investigate how
science works, the scientific method, and what science is and is not.
Students become increasingly proficient in the scientific process:
developing questions, measuring, making accurate observations, and
recording quantitative and qualitative data. Hands-on lab experiences
and cooperative learning groups play an integral part in the course of
study. Throughout their middle school years, students write in science
class to develop organizational skills, summarize discussions, and
clarify thinking. Technology is also an integral part of students'
learning experiences, both in class and in the lab. As students develop
their laboratory skills, they become increasingly proficient with
organizing and analyzing the data they collect to come to their own
scientific conclusions.
Fourth and fifth grade science study includes a variety of physical
science topics, including physical properties, ecosystems, energy
transfer, and New Jersey geology. Field studies provide learning
opportunities throughout the year. Sixth through eighth grade classes
are based on an integrated, three-year program developed especially for
middle school students. Grade-level content is theme-centered. The
sixth grade theme is "Patterns of Change," the seventh is "Diversity
and Limits," and the eighth is "Systems and Change." A strand of
instruction focused on research culminates in the Middle School with
the eighth grade lab-based research project, which places an emphasis
on student use of technology and requires students to use all of the
research skills they have developed. The project includes an oral and
written presentation of each student's experiment methodology and
results. The research strand continues in the Introduction to Independent Research
in Science (IRS) courses at the Upper School.
