Specials
Science
Science is a field of study that ignites wonder, supports natural risk-taking, and provides students with hand-on learning. BCD is fortunate to have two incredible science labs which support exploration and discovery for students Kindergarten through 8th grade. BCD follows the Colorado and Next Generation Science Standards as the foundations for our curriculum and teachers integrate their work with elementary project-based learning units as well as the Middle School International Baccalaureate curricula. These curricula provide our students an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills—communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility—that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives.
science curriculum
BCD’s preschool program promotes the understanding of science concepts through both age-appropriate, hands-on lessons, as well as, organically through daily, real-world experiences. While science is not provided by a specials teacher, classroom teachers may teach lessons that incorporate science concepts that align with a current learning theme. Children are naturally full of wonder and exploration and the opportunities to teach science concepts at this age consistently occur. Whether experimenting with cause and effect in the sandbox, mixing colors in the art area, or working through a cooking project, children are exploring and developing their understanding of the world around them at all times.
Beginning in Kindergarten, students have twice weekly visits to the Science lab. Each class includes hands-on work, often outside on our beautiful grounds. Each grade covers three areas of science during the year: life, Earth and space, and physical science and may also collaborate with the Innovation Lab for unique STEM and STEAM projects.
Examples of units of study include the creation of an invention inspired by some special part of a plant or animal we’ve learned about (1st); design and testing of Rube Goldberg machines (4th); and learning about chemical reactions (5th).
Labs are often connected to project-based learning units being offered in home room such as the study of the human body in 4th grade. Students choose a medical specialty and become experts on a human body system (digestive, nervous, skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory). They explore hands-on experiments and models in science lab and research the function and parts of the system. They also learn about common disorders that affect the system, how foods and exercise can keep the body healthy, and medical devices that are used to diagnose or treat illness. Students use this information to create fictional patient summaries and create presentations for their classmates.
Beginning in 6th grade, Science becomes a core subject. The four objectives for middle school science include: knowledge and understanding of the concepts in each unit; inquiring and designing skills by asking testable questions and designing controlled experiments; processing and evaluating data with an evidence-based approach; and reflecting on the impacts of science in each unit - how the science is needed and used to improve our world. Like in Elementary, students touch all three - physical, life, and earth science areas, each year.
Each year students design and conduct their own experiments and have the option to enter the school science fair during our BCD STEAMposium event and qualify to enter the Boulder Valley Regional Science Fair.
In 6th grade, students focus on the theme of Energy though units such matter and energy cycles in ecosystems, forms of energy, forces & motion, sound & light waves, and atomic structure & chemical reactions. An introduction to dissection begins in 6th along with interdisciplinary work with the Metric Olympics.
In 7th, the theme is Change Over Time, through units on studying structures and functions of cells, genetics and heredity, structure and functions of human body systems, evolution of life on earth, and natural selection and adaptations.
In 8th, students wrestle with Human Impacts on the Environment through units such as: weather & climate, the Earth’s history, plate tectonics, natural resources, and astronomy. They often collaborate with the art department creating climate change posters and with Individual and Society (IB social studies) for climate resolutions during the annual Model United Nations.
Boulder Country Day School 4820 Nautilus Court North • Boulder, Colorado 80301 • Phone - 303.527.4931 • info@bouldercountryday.org
Boulder Country Day School, where academic distinction meets education with character. BCD is a top rated, accredited private school in Boulder, Colorado where every child has the opportunity to discover their own unique excellence. Distinguished by small class sizes, outstanding faculty, engaging academics and a focus on community, our preschool, elementary and IB middle school teachers strive to create a well-rounded educational environment that balances traditional subjects with the arts, world languages, athletics and knowledge based units.
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