Middle School Science
Program Overview
The science program at Princeton Academy promotes an active learning process where students build strong knowledge of scientific principles and ideas as well as develop inquiry skills for problem solving. The goals include guiding the students toward thinking like a scientist and approaching problems in both an analytical and creative manner. The courses are built upon the National Science Education Standards set forth by the National Academy of Sciences.
Goals and Objectives
- Students learn science by doing science using an inquiry-based approach.
- Students are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas.
- Students are engaged in hands-on exploratory activities.
- Students reflect on collected data, analyze findings, and draw conclusions.
- Students apply what they have learned to real life situations.
- Students make connections to other science disciplines.
- Students make connections to other subject disciplines.
- Students are introduced to science process skills.
- Basic process skills covered in the science program include: observing, inferring, predicting, classifying, making models, communicating, measuring, calculating, creating data tables, and graphing.
- Advanced process skills covered in the program include: posing questions, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, controlling variables, forming operational definitions, interpreting data, and drawing conclusions.
- Students develop critical thinking skills. These skills include: comparing and contrasting, applying concepts, relating cause and effect, interpreting diagrams and graphs, making generalizations, making judgments, and problem solving.
Content
5th Grade
- Science Foundations
- Introducing Science Process Skills
- Using the Scientific Method
- Independent Science Project
- Matter
- What is matter?
- What is matter made of?
- Solids, Liquids, and Gases
- Mixtures and Solutions
- Chemical Changes
- Matter and Energy
- Earth and Its Resources
- Earth and Its Neighbors
- Earth’s Changing Crust
- Minerals of Earth’s Crust
- Earth’s Rocks and Soil
- Earth’s Atmosphere
- Earth’s Water Supply
- Energy Resources
- Animal Behavior
- Animal Behavior
- Patterns of Behavior
- Chemistry of Communication
Students pose a problem, find out information through research, design a controlled experiment, troubleshoot, analyze data, draw conclusions, write a detailed report, and present the completed project to a panel of scientists.
6th Grade
- Science Foundations
- Strengthening Science Process Skills
- Using the Scientific Method
- Independent Science Project
- Forces
- How Far? How Fast?
- Forces and Newton’s First Law
- More of Newton’s Laws
- Energy and Work
- How Levers Work
- How Inclined Planes Work
- The Restless Earth
- Moving Plates
- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Building Up and Breaking Down Earth’s Materials
- Lift, Carry, and Drop Earth’s Materials
- The Rock Cycle
- Geologic Time
- Properties of Matter and Energy
- Physical Properties
- Elements and Atoms
- Chemical Changes
- Temperature and Heat
- Temperature, Heat, and Matter
- Sources of Energy
Students pose a problem, find out information through research, design a controlled experiment, troubleshoot, analyze data, draw conclusions, write a detailed report, and present the completed project to a panel of scientists.
7th Grade
- Science Foundations
- Strengthening Science Process Skills
- Using the Scientific Method
- Independent Science Project
- Cells and Heredity
- Cell Structure and Function
- Cell Processes and Energy
- Genetics: The Science of Heredity
- Modern Genetics
- Changes in Living Things
- From Bacteria to Plants
- Living Things
- Viruses and Bacteria
- Protists and Fungi
- Introduction to Plants
- Seed Plants
- Animals
- Sponges, Cnidarians, and Worms
- Mollusks, Arthropods, and Echinoderms
- Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles
- Birds and Mammals
- Animal Behavior
Students pose a problem, find out information through research, design a controlled experiment, troubleshoot, analyze data, draw conclusions, write a detailed report, and present the completed project to a panel of scientists.
8th Grade
- Science Foundations
- Strengthening Science Process Skills
- Using the Scientific Method
- Independent Science Project
- Environmental Science
- Populations and Communities
- Ecosystems and Biomes
- Living Resources
- Land and Soil Resources
- Air and Water Resources
- Energy Resources
- Electricity and Magnetism
- Magnetism and Electromagnetism
- Electric Charges and Currents
- Electricity and Magnetism at Work
- Electronics
- Astronomy
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- The Solar System
- Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe
Students pose a problem, find out information through research, design a controlled experiment, troubleshoot, analyze data, draw conclusions, write a detailed report, and present the completed project to a panel of scientists.