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Westtown Lower School has an inquiry-centered science program based on hands-on collaborative learning that enables young children to learn about the essence of science by asking questions and exploring to find the answers. This approach captures children’s curiosity, stimulates their interest, and teaches them important science concepts, along with the critical thinking skills involved in scientific problem-solving.
The Farm + Forest Program is an outdoor, place-based science program for students in pre-K, kindergarten, and 1st grade. Envisioned and created by our Director of Outdoor Education and our Sustainable Agriculture Teacher, the Farm + Forest program utilizes our 600-acre campus and is designed to help students develop a connection to, and relationship with, the natural world. This is accomplished through hands-on experiential education and the development of careful observation skills and increased sensory awareness. Our young naturalists are invited to explore, discover, question, and to go off the trail and into the creeks! Through these direct experiences of nature, students cultivate curiosity, connection, and a desire to know more. The combination of direct experience, strong observational skills, genuine curiosity, and problem-solving serve as the foundation for future scientific discovery.
The intermediate science curriculum utilizes the Next Generation Science Standards. Through their years in 2nd through 5th grades, students engage in life sciences, physical sciences, earth and space sciences, engineering, and technology. Overall, the Intermediate Science curriculum is designed to be hands-on and uses inquiry as the basis for learning and connecting with science.
In 2nd grade, students build on their knowledge and skills gained in Farm + Forest. Continuing to explore and learn from our extensive campus environment, students also begin learning in the science classroom. Second grade, co-taught by our Intermediate Science teacher and our Sustainable Agriculture Teacher, focuses on connecting our explorations around campus with scientific content and procedures inside the classroom.
3rd grade students’ curriculum emphasizes exploring scientific phenomena to find answers to big questions. Students are invited to use their hands, work in groups, and experiment in many of our science units. One example is the magnetism and electricity unit where students are challenged to make a light bulb light up with just a battery and wire. As the year progresses, content-area reading, writing, and data collection are strengthened.
The 4th and 5th grade science curricula challenge students to make connections across a wider range of concepts and content. The goal is for our older students to see how all things are connected and begin to connect the dots between scientific phenomena and the natural and human-made world. These grades complete longer, more integrated units of instruction involving group work, projects, and summative creations to showcase learning.
