SCIENCE

Today, mankind must work to balance global development with environmental preservation. That being so, it is particularly important for science programs to focus on all aspects of life as interactive ecosystems. We believe this perspective is best cultivated by nurturing the children’s natural reverence for the interrelatedness of all aspects of our world.

Therefore, in the earliest grades, we work with story, poetry, and the visual arts to bring the children an imaginative and lively description of the processes of nature in the context of the ecosystem. Long walks and projects made from materials collected on these walks further the children’s experience of the natural world. In the middle elementary grades it is an active participation in farming and building that gives the children a direct experience of the natural world. It the later elementary years they learn about animals and plants through direct observation and independent research, as well as through stories and the arts. Together these experiences keep alive the children's natural sense of wonder, inquisitiveness, and caring for the world around them and lay the foundation for observation and analytical skills.

On this base, when the children are developmentally ready, they can move into more analytic explorations of the world in and around them without losing the sense of the whole.

In the Middle School years, our science curriculum encourages students to see the world through their own eyes and to stand in wonder and appreciation of what they see. It is this sense of wonder that will keep their inquisitiveness alive and help the students use all they learn to care for the world around them. Therefore, during the Middle School years we emphasize a phenomenological approach in which the students' observations form the ground for further study. Students begin by observing everyday phenomena. They will look, draw, and describe what they see, as precisely as possible. From this keen observation, students develop their own hypotheses, which they must be able to test. Only once their own theories have been thoroughly tested and explored are students given the established theories and asked to compare the results. In this way students get a firm grounding in the scientific process, strengthen their critical thinking skills, and gain the confidence and enthusiasm born of personal discovery.

Expanding the focus on ecosystems into the students daily activities, our High School science curriculum works in harmony with the apprenticeships which lie at the heart of our High School curriculum. During these years the science program will broaden, deepen, and clarify the very practical work being undertaken during the apprenticeships. For example, a ninth grader doing a forestry apprenticeship will study soils, climate, botany and ecology. A tenth grader doing a human service apprenticeship in a hospital will study biology and sociology. Whenever possible the apprenticeships will include direct work with scientists engaged in laboratory and/or field research.

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