Curriculum

 

 2nd grade, August- October                                                                      Unit- Properties of Materials                                                                           In this unit, students explore the properties of materials and matter! They describe and classify different types of materials by properties  like hardness, flexibility, and absorbency, and they investigate how those properties are useful in meeting basic human needs (such as clothing and cooking). They also investigate how heating and cooling affect the properties of materials.

 December- February

Unit- Plant and Animal Relationship

What is the connection between chalta fruit, elephants, and droppings?  In this unit, students dive deep into how plants depend on animals in their habitats. Students assume the role of plant scientists reporting to the lead scientist at the Bengal Tiger Reserve, who has tasked students with explaining the unit's anchor phenomenon of why no new chalta trees are growing there. 

 

 4th grade

 August- October                                                                 

 Unit- Energy and Energy Conversion                                                       In this unit, students explore energy! Students investigate how   energy  is stored, how it can make objects move, and how collisions   transfer energy between objects. Students also construct devices that convert energy from one form into another, such as heat into motion and electricity into light.

 December- February

Unit- Vision and Light

Over the course of this unit, students investigate the role that animal senses, primarily vision, play in survival as they try to understand a realistic fictional problem with a real organism. They investigate why there is a decline in the number of Tokay geckos living in one area of a rain forest in the Philippines. 

 

 5th grade

August- October                                                                     

Unit- Patterns of Earth and Sky                                                                     In this unit, students explore the Earth, Sun, Moon, and stars using observations of shadows and changing patterns in the sky. Students also explore the planets of our Solar System and begin to consider what might lie beyond.

November- January

Unit- Ecosystem Restoration

A portion of the Costa Rican rain forest ecosystem is failing. Many years ago, its trees were cut down, and the land was dedicated to cattle grazing. Since then, the cattle have left, and trees were replanted on the land. However, the organisms in this area of the rain forest—jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees—don’t appear to be numerous or healthy. Why? In this unit, students take on the role of ecologists to investigate this question and figure out what can be done to return the ecosystem to its original healthy state.