Science
The Science Department provides students with a rich, challenging, and diverse understanding of science and its role in contemporary issues. Science allows individuals to understand the natural world and acquire important inquiry and analysis skills.
The program empowers students to participate directly in the process of science by learning to frame scientific questions, analyze data, and discuss and interpret results. Structured to encourage growth, the courses meet students where they are, providing the space and structure to mature academically and find meaning in scientific discovery. Experiences as emerging scientists challenge students to become responsible, active, and positive voices. The program provides students with the tools to creatively and intelligently shape a healthier and more sustainable world.
The Middle School program provides hands-on experiences in life science, environmental science, and physical science each year. These encounters include, but are not limited to:
- The nature of science—the scientific process, science as a community, habits of good science, and the strengths and limitations of science.
- Inquiry and lab skills—making valuable observations, fostering intellectual curiosity, setting up controlled experiments, and developing the ability to critically evaluate their own results and those of others.
- Analysis—recording and organizing data, creating visual and conceptual models of data; generating mathematical models from inquiry results; and using basic statistics to interpret this data.
- Application—recognizing the role that science plays in creating and solving problems, designing, prototyping, and testing technologies to solve problems.