Problem Solving • Critical Thinking • Teamwork • Oral Communication • Technology Literacy • Global Awareness

Life Science

• To enhance student learning and understanding of the interdependence between plants and animals, an expert in the field will visit the classroom to build four biomes with students: Forest, Desert, Rainforest and Ocean. Students will be involved with the creation and maintenance of the biomes and will study interactions and various environmental factors that affect the growing conditions and survival of plants and animals.
  
  
• Computers will be outfitted with cameras, so that students can have “virtual pen pals” in another country, to communicate with throughout the year.

Earth Science

• Students will learn about natural resources by taking field trips to local water treatment facilities, recycling centers, and by visits from experts in the field.
  
  
• They will learn about weather by becoming real-life meteorologists. A weather station will be set up in the school for students to study and track various weather patterns. A meteorologist will visit the classroom to work with the students. Students will collect data and use related technology to produce weather reports.
  
  
• They will learn about the sky, seasons, and day and night by taking a trip to a local planetarium by setting up a simulated sky in their classrooms.

Chemistry

• Students will investigate matter (solids, liquids, gases) by manipulating simple compounds to understand how they change under various circumstances. A chemistry laboratory will be created for students to mix, separate, and create reactions using basic tools of a chemist.
  
  
• Local scientists will visit classrooms to discuss how chemistry is involved in many of the products we use in everyday life.
  
  
• Students will explore the dynamics of sound and instruments. A program with local musicians will illustrate the principles of sound, vibration, pitch and various musical instruments.
  
  
• Students will visit a recording studio to learn how sound can be recorded, played back and changed.

Physics

• Students will explore simple machines and how they help simplify work in everyday life. With the help of business professionals, students will design and manipulate various types of simple machines in their classrooms.
  
  
• Professionals in the health sciences will visit to demonstrate the motion of the body, how physical therapy helps to repair the motion of the body, and how magnets are used to help diagnose and treat diseases.