Green Acres School

The central element of the Green Acres science curriculum in grades 5 and 6 is the opportunity for students to investigate topics of interest to them. Guided by teachers, students learn about specific science topics, such as the human eye, and light and color. They observe natural phenomena in various settings, wonder and speculate about why things are the way they are, learn to test their hypotheses and draw logical conclusions, and begin to crave further research and thought about the world.

With their increased appetite for specific topics in science, students in seventh and eighth grades continue to explore the world, guided by an approach that focuses on more sophisticated topics in biology, chemistry, and physics. In chemistry, for example, students speculate on how the periodic chart originated, before conducting their own experiments on individual elements to determine whether their hypotheses are sound.

Middle School science labs provide microscopes, beakers, balances, test tubes, pendulums, and electrical devices for students to use in experimental work. Teachers guide students in the appropriate use of experimental techniques and laboratory equipment, teach them how to make reliable predictions, challenge them to explore alternate explanations and to solve problems creatively, and help them learn how to present meaningful results.

Because students learn best when they are engaged directly in their work, Middle School science students use not only science classrooms, but the woodlands, stream, gardens, and fields of our campus. Here students observe a wide range of scientific principles, discovering patterns and cycles, charting growth and change, determining cause and effect. Four-day outdoor education trips to places such as Echo Hill Outdoor School, and Chincoteague, Virginia supplement our on-campus facilities.

Through their study of physical, chemical, and biological sciences, students begin to see the interdependence of plants, animals (including humans), and environments. Our graduates enter high school excited about further research and already able to think scientifically about their world.