Science

Kindergarten

Science curriculum in kindergarten is an exploratory program. Kindergarteners will learn about the world around them by observation and exploration. Themes will include weather and patterns, observing and identifying plants and animals, and comparing living and nonliving things.

By the end of Kindergarten, students will:

  • Recognize God’s hand in the world around them.
  • Sort objects into two groups.
  • Identify differences and similarities between living/non-living things.
  • Monitor daily/seasonal changes in terms of weather and summarize them.

First Grade

First grade will introduce the basic ideas of general science, life science, earth-space science, and physical science. Inside these themes, students will explore the basics of the design/engineering process in the form of processing skills (observe, classify, measure, infer, predict, communicate). They will examine the fundamental needs of plants and animals and the environments they live in. Students will identify healthy habits and explore the basics of Earth and Space through a Biblical Worldview.

By the end of First Grade, students will:

  • Identify ways to keep their bodies strong and healthy.
  • Examine tools and use them correctly to gather information and compare with others.
  • Classify and sort objects (living/nonliving) in a variety of ways.
  • Identify habitats and describe how different habitats provide for different basic needs in plants and animals.

Second Grade

In Second grade, students continue their explorations of the sciences with an emphasis on the basics of engineering, matter, and motion. Students will define matter and how it moves and changes. They will also learn about how the earth moves, what the earth is made of, and identify many of its natural resources. First graders will identify physical characteristics and behaviors among plants and animals and explore the changes they go through. Students will also be able to explain the body systems and what they do.

By the end of second grade, students will:

  • Incorporate inquiry skills, the scientific method, and the engineering design process to solve problems.
  • Measure, record, and describe weather conditions using common tools.
  • Demonstrate that objects move in a variety of ways and at different speeds.
  • Identify and explain the three states of matter.
  • Describe why some materials are better than others in terms of building and why some that may be good in some areas are worse in others.

Third Grade

Third grade science dives deeper into scientific inquiry. Students will learn how to generate questions and maintain a record of observations, procedures, and explanations. Third graders will learn the parts of a cell and what part they play in plants and animals. Photosynthesis and the plant life cycle will be introduced as well as adaptations that plants and animals have and how God designed those adaptations specifically for survival. Students will dive deeper into physical properties, states of matter, and changes in states of matter. They will examine motion in terms of force and its effects on direction, distance, and speed.

By the end of third grade, students will:

  • Use tools to understand and make observations.
  • Explain the relationship between pitch and vibrations and identify factors that affect pitch.
  • Explain how light travels and how it is absorbed, redirected, reflected, or allowed to pass through an object.
  • Observe and describe seasonal changes in terms of the position of the sun.
  • Recognize that the Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun, and that the moon orbits the Earth.
  • Sort plants and animals into groups based on physical characteristics.
  • Describe motion in terms of direction, distance, speed, and how force affects motion.
  • Distinguish physical properties of objects in terms of mass, volume, and matter.

Fourth Grade

In fourth grade, students will explore more in-depth Earth, Life, and Physical Sciences. Earth science will examine changes on the earth in terms of formations, weathering, landforms, soil, natural resources, and water and oceans. Life science will include a study of insects, spiders, and plants. Students will learn about the ecosystems that these different species need and animal defenses. In Physical Science, students will investigate energy, motion, and matter.

By the end of fourth grade, students will:

  • Generate ideas and possible constraints for solving a problem through engineering design.
  • Describe a situation where one invention led to other inventions.
  • Accurately measure temperature, volume, weight, and length.
  • Describe how states of matter change as a result of temperature changes.
  • Define magnetism and explain how it works.
  • Identify ways to generate heat energy.
  • Construct a simple electric circuit.
  • Describe and classify minerals based on their physical properties.
  • Recognize that God designed our bodies with defense systems against germs.

 Fifth Grade

In fifth grade, students will explain why evidence, clear communication, accurate record keeping, and openness to evaluation are important aspects of science. Students will understand that there is more than one way to explain an observation. In Earth Science, students will study the layers of the earth, talk about weathering, contrast creation and evolution, identify the layers of the atmosphere and investigate weather patterns. Students will be introduced to fossil evidence of dinosaurs, characteristics of biomes and ecosystems. Further Life Science exploration will dig further into the respiratory and circulatory systems and the exploration of physical science will continue.

By the end of fifth grade, students will:

  • Explain the layers of the earth and the characteristics each layer presents.
  • Discuss how soil is formed.
  • Classify minerals, rocks, and fossils.
  • Describe the layers of the atmosphere.
  • Explain how heat is able to be regulated in space craft.
  • Differentiate between biomes and ecosystems and be able to share some characteristics of each.
  • Identify parts of the respiratory and circulatory systems and describe the dangers of smoking.
  • Describe the differing types of energy and how temperature affects it.
  • Explain how sound waves work and define frequency, speed, pitch, volume, timbre, echoes, ultrasound, music, and acoustics.
  • Define electromagnetic waves.
  • Measure matter in terms of volume, mass, weight, and density.
  • Identify atoms, molecules, elements, and compounds.
  • Differentiate between mixtures and compounds.

Sixth Grade

In sixth grade science, students will continue their learning of all sciences with an emphasis on Earth/Space, Life, and Physical Sciences. In Earth and Space sciences, students will be classifying earthquakes, volcanoes, soil, stars, and planets. They will continue the emphasis of classification in Life Science as it pertains to cells, plants, and animals. Students will learn about plant and animal reproduction including human genetics and dig deeper into the nervous system and immune system. In physical science, sixth graders will be investigating velocity, acceleration, momentum, Newton’s laws of motion, and simple and compound machines. Components of chemistry will be introduced in the parts of an atom and classifying elements, compounds, and chemical reactions and formulas.

By the end of sixth grade, students will:

  • Ask questions that arise from observations and evidence.
  • Collect data and use digital data analysis tools to identify patterns in weather.
  • Analyze and interpret data to recognize patterns and accurately develop models to scale.
  • Differentiate between velocity, acceleration, and momentum.
  • Demonstrate how levers, pulleys, wheel and axle, inclined planes, wedges, and screws work.
  • Explain the difference between simple and compound machines.
  • Describe the types of circuits and explain the difference between static and current electricity.
  • Label parts of an atom.
  • Identify common compounds and chemical formulas from the periodic table of elements.
  • Describe the characteristics of the nervous system and immune system.
  • Classify animals by genus and species.
  • Explain the characteristics of living things and how to classify them based on the six kingdoms.
  • Classify plants by nonvascular, seedless vascular, gymnosperms, and angiosperms.
  • Define genetics and be able to talk about heredity, traits, DNA structure, and dominant and recessive genes.

Seventh Grade

In seventh grade, students will study Life Science. In Life Science from BJU press, students will discuss science and worldview, biblical vs. naturalistic worldviews, science and biblical ethics, characteristics of life; cell theory, cell structure and function, cellular respiration, photosynthesis; genes, DNA replication, RNA transcription, protein synthesis, cell division, mitosis and meiosis; Mendelian genetics, genetic crosses, variations on simple genetics, population genetics; biblical creationism vs evolutionism, change in nature, worldview and change. (bjupress.com)

By the end of seventh grade, students will:

  • Refine their questions to help them define problems.
  • Design and conduct and experiment to test others’ ideas and questions.
  • Utilize data to recognize patterns.
  • Develop a model to represent their understanding of a system.
  • Communicate their ideas to others in the form of a table, graph, or chart.
  • Apply scientific principles and empirical evidence to construct explanations of phenomena.
  • Engage in argument from evidence for the explanations the students construct.
  • Defend and revise interpretations when presented with new evidence.
  • Argue from evidence the best solution to a problem.
  • Gather information using multiple sources to defend a hypothesis.