Lower School Science

Students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten enjoy a variety of science activities in their Phoenix private school classrooms. Students are taught that science is all around them. They use their senses to explore their environment and are encouraged to predict, observe, and draw conclusions. Science content in pre-kindergarten includes life cycles, energy and movement, the Earth (weather, water, day and night, ecology), and the human body (health, growth, my body, safety). Units in kindergarten include pebbles, sand, and silt; the five senses; and animal groups.

In grades one through four, students attend science class in the lower school science room on our private Arizona elementary school campus in Phoenix. Earth sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences are introduced.

Grade one students enjoy hands-on learning through experimenting and observing. Scientific process skills are the focal point of each of the four units: rocks and earth materials, states of matter, plants, magnetism and electricity.

In grade two, experimentation is usually done in cooperative groups so that children work together toward a final product. Comparing group results presents many possibilities. Students learn scientific methodology skills such as analyzing, predicting, evaluating, and formulating conclusions. Units include human body/nutrition; air and weather; balance, force, motion; animal groups and insects.

The scientific process of experimentation and observation is a major focus in grade three. Hands-on activities accompany each concept. Through classroom experiences students are able to relate one scientific idea to another. Units include sound, water, structures of life, and measurement.

In grade four, the scientific process continues to be a major focus. Our Phoenix private school students look at what’s new in science, bringing current events into the classroom and provoking discussions about the broadness and influence of science in our world. Units include the scientific method and the metric system, classification of living organisms, bats, microscopes (compound and stereomicroscopes), and desert biome.