Thursday, March 9, 2017

Science Skills in the PYP


If you drop by some of the Elementary hallways this week and next you would be forgiven for thinking you had wandered into a research facility.  As the students come to the end of their current unit of inquiry, they are all busy applying the science skills they have been developing over the past six weeks.

In the PYP, science is viewed as the exploration of the biological, chemical and physical aspects of the natural world, and the relationships between them. It encourages curiosity and ingenuity and enables students to develop an understanding of the world. Reflection on scientific knowledge also helps students to develop a sense of responsibility regarding the impact of their actions on themselves, others and their world.  In each grade level, scientific skills are developed leading to increased independence and understanding of scientific principles  These skills are:

  • Observing carefully in order to gather data
  • Using a variety of tools to measure data accurately
  • Using scientific vocabulary to explain their observations and experiences
  • Researching and exploring possibilities
  • Identifying and generating a question or problem to be explored
  • Planning and carrying out systematic investigations
  • Manipulating variables as necessary
  • Making and testing predictions
  • Interpreting and evaluating data gathered in order to draw conclusions
  • Applying understanding to create and innovate 
  • Considering scientific models and applications of these models

See how many of these skills you can observe yourself in the video of our students, below.


The summative assessment tasks the students will complete are designed by teachers to allow students to apply the skills they have learned throughout a unit of inquiry.  These includes grade 1 students using their knowledge of light and sound to create their own instruments and bounce and block light with their Light Challenge; grade 2 students applying their knowledge of forces and materials to design and build their own strong and stable structures; grade 3 students developing their own compound or complex machines and grade 4 students using their understanding of energy transfer to design and create toys from electrical components and circuits.

In addition to this, we had the fifth and sixth graders take part in Big Science Day, presenting their learning to parents this morning.  Grade 5 students formulated their own testable questions which allowed them to manipulate variables to investigate the properties of matter (click here to view their blog!).  Grade six students also  presented their scientific investigative skills as well as showing off the diseases board games they'd created using their new found knowledge of microbes and global access to medical care. 



Check the grade level blogs out over the next week or so to see these experiences in more detail.  And don't forget to attend the Middle and High school Big Science Day exhibition this evening, where there will be some guest appearances from some of our own grade 5 and 6 scientists!


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