Science
The science program at The McGillis School emphasizes learning by doing using a constructivist approach to learning. Students explore and investigate science facts and concepts through interactive and individual activities, experiments, discussions and projects. As students progress through grade levels, they learn to apply the scientific method to questions and problems and consider “real life” applications to the experiments and concepts studied.
Students in early grades emphasize science as exploration about themselves and their world, investigating such themes as life cycles in plants and animals, seasons, weather, and the human body. As children progress into the upper elementary grades, they begin to apply the scientific method to student-designed experiments to answer questions about such topics as the properties of water, solution chemistry, photosynthesis, and simple machines.
Middle school students are prepared for the rigor of studying the basic principles and theories of the major scientific disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics, and geology. Curriculum is focused on further developing students’ skills in the application of the scientific method, and integration with mathematics, the social sciences, and humanities