During his first year in high school, my son came home one
day and told me, “Seabury ruined science for me, Mom.” I was incredulous – Seabury has an awesome
science program! I asked him what he
meant and he replied, “At Seabury, we actually DID science – developing our own
questions, putting together our own investigations, drawing our own
conclusions. Now, all we do is read
about science and do experiments that are already set up for us. I liked actually DOING science much better.”
The process of inquiry, or scientific method as you may have
called it when you were in school, is the backbone of science in the real
world, as well as in Seabury’s science program.
In all classes, from prekindergarten where students have studied everything
from plants to planets, to middle school where they have studied chemistry and
microbiology, students at Seabury don’t just learn about science. They DO science. They research background information. They learn to ask research questions. They develop hypotheses. They experiment and control variables. They make careful observations and control
variables. They draw conclusions and
share them with others.
The process of inquiry is not limited to science at
Seabury. Learning how to ask good
questions, gather data and develop conclusions informs the way students
approach all kinds of learning. In a
world that is changing quickly, we believe that these skills are not only
critical for developing students’ skills in the sciences, but are key in all
areas. In our rapidly changing world,
being able to ask good questions, evaluate information, and form reasoned and
well supported conclusions are the skills needed in the 21st century
where students today will have jobs that have not even been conceived of yet.
You can get a feel for the vital part science plays in real world of our classrooms by checking out our classroom blogs over the past year. (Links at the bottom of www.seabury.org) You'll read about pre-k students exploring surface tension, Newton's third law and what happens as rain moves through clouds. You'll find how our kindergarteners initiated their own study of rocks and spent several weeks weighing, measuring and recording observations about their own specimens. You can read and see pictures documenting the in-depth learning our first and second-graders have done in their study of the human body, including making their own stethoscopes and dissecting a real cow eyeball. You can see the simple machines and incredible Rube Goldberg machine built by our third through fifth graders during their study of physics.
Seabury’s recent science fair was a great demonstration of
our students’ love of science – and of their love of investigating the world
around them. It was a celebration of the
power of inquiry, and of giving students space to explore. As we look at Seabury’s graduates and the
things they are doing now that they are “beyond Seabury,” we see the spirit of
inquiry – of, “I wonder what would happen if…” in so many of the things they
are doing. What a joy it is to see where
our kids’ questions lead them!
- Sandi Wollum
