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SCIENCE
The middle school science program is designed to enhance students'
curiosity about scientific topics and to provide them with the experience,
confidence, information and analytical and laboratory skills necessary
to engage in scientific inquiry. Students practice generating hypotheses
and developing scientifically sound experimental protocols for testing
their hypotheses. They are asked to plan and reflect on their experiments
through writing, drawing, graphing and the analyzing data. They
also practice the appropriate use of the metric system and scientific
instruments, including triple beam balances, meter sticks, beakers,
thermometers and graduated cylinders. Through experiments, activities,
writing and problem solving, students deepen their understanding
of the topics under examination and are encouraged to explore science
critically and creatively. Crucial to the process of scientific
exploration are the skills of collaboration, analysis and communication.
Experiments and activities are often collaborative, enabling students
to demonstrate initiative in planning, practice compromise and listening,
and take an active role in their own learning.
Grades 7 and 8
The seventh and eighth-grade science course sequence uses the theme
of environmental science to teach students about both life science
and physical science while encouraging the development of sound
scientific skills. The two-year sequence focuses on the environmental
science of the Hudson River Valley studying some of the tributaries
of the Hudson (the hydrology year) and a year studying land and
atmosphere. Each year students are required to pick a unique research
topic and carry out an experiment or investigation to answer a particular
environmental science question relating to the year's topic. The
results are shared with other students, parents and invited scientists
in a science symposium.
Year A: Land and Atmosphere - Grades 7 and 8
Texts:
Environmental Science, by Karen Arms
Earth's Changing Surface (Holt Science and Technology)
Explorer Weather and Climate (Prentice Hall Science)
The Earth Science Day Book (Great Source Company)
This year of the 7-8 science cycle focuses on land and the atmosphere
and uses the Poughkeepsie Day School campus as the field site, with
additionally sampling coming from the homes of the students. We
begin with a study of the changing seasons by tracking the color
of the leaves of a deciduous tree, both at school and home. While
that study continues through the fall, we also investigate the interaction
between water and the permeable earth's surface by looking at groundwater
and what happens if it becomes contaminated. Students test the water
quality of samples from the town of "Fruitvale," and then
work in a town meeting to plan a correction. After leaf-fall, students
study soil samples on campus and from home to characterize them
and to compare the effects of precipitation on the local samples.
As the winter begins, students work with an atmosphere monitoring
station for recording daily temperature and rainfall, while learning
about the principles and variables that affect the weather. The
spring brings an examination of global climate patterns as the students
return to their deciduous trees to observe spring bud burst. This
class is inquiry-based; laboratory, fieldwork and classwork lead
students into the traditional study areas of meteorology, geology
and earth science.
Year B: Hydrology - Grades 7 and 8
Texts:
Environmental Science, by Karen Arms
Chemical Interactions (Prentice Hall Science Explorer)
Earth's Waters (Prentice Hall Science Explorer)
In the hydrology year, students use water as a central theme to
enter the study of environmental science, life science and chemistry.
Because of our location in the beautiful Hudson River Valley, students
focus on the local environment and its effect on the Hudson River.
Each class takes field trips to a tributary of the Hudson River.
The living environment at the sites is used to introduce life science
topics such as taxonomy and community and population ecology. Students
monitor their sites and explore the variables that determine water
health in a watershed. Students design experiments comparing the
macro-invertebrate and coliform bacterial fauna of the tributary.
These studies are designed as inquiry units, with each class designing
their own experiments and drawing conclusions about the water from
the data. The topic of water is used as a theme to introduce basic
chemical and physical principles. Students learn how to observe
and describe chemical reactions. We pay particular attention to
the unique chemistry of water and how substances dissolve. By the
end of the year, students have both an environmental scientist's
perspective about tributary health and a chemist's understanding
of the atomic mechanisms involved in substances dissolved in the
natural waterways.
Revised Summer 2008
Read about
the Science Symposium.
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