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Science
Children learn about science in daily scheduled classes that include hands-on investigations, reading and writing, media explorations, and assessment.
- The heart of OWN Science is the establishment of a positive learning environment. Children share what they already know, and explore a variety of materials and phenomena in an open-ended manner. Teachers guide students to collect and record first-hand data, to represent and analyze it. Children learn to identify patterns, describe relationships, make connections, develop models, pose questions, make predictions, check hypotheses and puzzle over answers.
- The curriculum is organized into thematic units designed to address NYS standards. Each quarter contains 1-2 thematic units developed specifically by teachers at OWN working with the curriculum developer.
- OWN uses kits from DSMIII (Delta Science Modules) and FOSS (Full Option Science System), developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science in California. Each unit of study has a text, as well as a library of science trade books and reference books with a range of reading levels.
- Students are instructed in specific nonfiction reading strategies and guided to make connections between books, and between texts and their own experiences. Students learn to interpret visual images and make inferences and articulate connections based on them.
- Teachers guide student dialogue, prompting the children to practice the listening and speaking skills required for explaining concepts and describing processes. Visiting experts offer opportunities for posing questions and developing interviewing strategies and skills.
- Science Journals provide structure for instruction in specific writing skills, ranging from simple record keeping to essay writing, and in support of vocabulary development.
- Various forms of media and web-based resources enrich the children's experience, while adding to their skills using technology to access and to present information.
- Assessment is an ongoing process, using a variety of strategies that range from the very informal formative assessments to formal summative assessments.
