Curriculum: Science at the School for Children

The School for Children teaches science through direct experience, with students making meaning of the world as a result of their discoveries. The curriculum begins with what the students know about the physical world and provides investigative experiences to expand this understanding. As students do research, they manipulate variables, collect data, and analyze the results in order to draw conclusions about the laws of the natural world. Children use books and other media as support materials, generally after they have gained first-hand knowledge about their topics. This approach allows students to construct meaning from experience, the core of Bank Streets' educational philosophy.

A major goal of the science program is to stimulate and excite minds, thus fostering creativity and curiosity. We present science as a human endeavor, a discipline developed by men and women striving to understand the world. Scientific discoveries affect the way we think and the way we live. Similarly, human thought and action affect the body of knowledge we call science. The program strives to promote a positive attitude toward the physical world, a healthy respect for our own and the diverse environments of the world and a level of knowledge that will enable students to make informed decisions regarding their local and global environment.

The major themes of study in science in the School for Children are: living organisms (plants, animals, and human beings); the earth as an environment; the study of physical systems; and the study of chemical systems. In all these areas, children inquire; observe; hypothesize; experiment; collect, record and analyze data; and come up with conclusions and generalizations about phenomena under study.