MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE
In middle school science, each grade level concentrates on a specific area of science. Hands-on labs and an emphasis on real-world applications help students develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the discipline. It’s truly our goal to have students love science!
Sixth grade students explore topics related to Earth and Space Science. These include astronomy, geology, meteorology, and oceanography.
Life Science is the focus for our seventh graders. They also participate in Invention Convention, devising an original invention to solve a real-world problem. During the invention process, students conduct research, construct a prototype, and develop a marketing plan. Our students have such creative ideas, and their projects are amazing! A school-level Convention is held and selected projects will proceed to the district level. This year, all HNES projects sent to the district level placed in their respective categories, and five of the seven projects were selected to advance to the national competition.
Our 8th graders delve into Physical Science, emphasizing both physics and chemistry. This class is taught at a level equivalent to a high school Honors Physical Science class, and students have the opportunity to earn high school credit by successfully completing this HNES course. Hands-on activities abound in the 8th grade science classroom, causing the very abstract ideas of physical science to become more concrete.
In addition to the core science curriculum, our robotics program offers yet another challenging and thoroughly engaging STEM opportunity. Working in partnership with FIRST® LEGO® League, participating students construct robotics challenge course and program a robot to complete different missions related to this year’s theme. Additionally, the team originates an innovation project that would help to solve a problem in the community. Throughout the competitions, core values exhibited by the team are observed, and these observations impact final rankings. Our current team was the recipient of the top award at our qualifying tournament and recently competed at a regional tournament. We are anxiously awaiting those results to see if we will secure one of the eight bids to continue to the state level competition. Go, Robo-Bolts!
While not all students plan to pursue STEM careers, it is important that ALL students are able to apply scientific reasoning and critical thinking. These abilities inform personal decisions and help individuals meet the demands of a technologically advanced world. It has been observed that, “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” At Holy Nativity Episcopal School, our middle school science program helps students develop these scientific thought processes, preparing them for continued success in high school, college, and the world of the future.