Science at Waimea Country School

Children are natural questioners. Science helps us make sense of the world around us using our minds, observation skills, previous knowledge, and intuition. Students participate in hands-on activities, making observations and performing experiments that help them think critically while stimulating their natural curiosity. We encourage collaboration in seeking knowledge and understanding, emulating the approach of real life scientists, while also encouraging students’ individual interests.

While the content rotates through a two-year cycle in each class (see below), all science classes teach and build scientific inquiry which involves many process skills, including posing questions; organizing, evaluating, and interpreting data; hypothesizing; reflecting; and communicating information.

Science Fair

Each class conducts a Science Fair during the year, with independence and autonomy building over the 6-year program. During each fair, Guest Scientists from our community spend time with student scientists listening to presentations, asking questions, and providing feedback.

‘Ohi’a students work in small groups to run hands-on science centers. Students learn the scientific process as they work together on a single topic.

Koai’a students work with a partner or in small groups to share knowledge about a unit of study they have been working on. For them, this serves as an introduction to the scientific method, with student scientists often designing their own experiments.

Koa students each choose a scientific question that is personally interesting to them. They research, investigate, perform experiments, draw conclusions, and report on their findings. They learn numerous scientific skills, including how to use the scientific method to solve problems and answer questions, and how to present and articulate their findings.

Science Unit Rotation

YEAR 1

YEAR 2