Science Curriculum
Willowwind School uses a project-based learning approach. Project-based learning is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning essential knowledge and life-engaging skills through an inquiry process structured around authentic questions and carefully designed projects. Project-based learning requires the integration of different subject areas to complete the projects and that is how the curriculum at Willowwind is organized. The basic knowledge of science is integrated with social studies and literacy skills to create meaningful curriculum units.
2016-2017 School Year
During the 2016-2017 school year, we will cover three units: Plants, Inventions, and Motion & Design.
Although these units are taught at different times in the year, the basic concepts will be referred to throughout the year. What student learn about plants will be related to our study of the geography of Iowa and our study of the Regions of the United States. The unit on Inventions and Motion and Design will be referenced in both social studies units also, such as the evolution of farming equipment and the Industrial Revolution in the Northeast Region. Each unit uses hands-on activities that make the learning meaningful and fun. We use the Invent Iowa curriculum to help the students prepare an invention to enter the statewide event. As part of the preparation we will have our own Willowwind Invention Convention during our Community Night at Willowwind School.
We will also have an outdoor education emphasis at Willowwind School as we visit School of the Wild and other nature areas in Iowa City. Students will increase their observation skills by keeping a nature journal. Students will also write about science in a lab notebook that we keep throughout each science unit. Students are expected to make predictions, record observations, and write responses in this journal. Students will also prepare and carry out an experiments during the Plants unit and Motion and Design unit.
Literacy skills will be taught and practiced throughout the units. The focus is on paragraph length entries to journals. Longer written pieces will occur in the form of two written reports. The steps for longer pieces of writing are covered in the language arts section of this overview.
The Plants unit will cover the following major concepts:
2017-2018 School Year
During the 2017-2018 school year, we will cover three units: Earth Materials, Solar System and Human Body. These units will be integrated into our study of Communities and Language Arts.
The Earth Materials unit will cover the following major concepts:
The Solar System unit will cover the following major concepts:
Willowwind School uses a project-based learning approach. Project-based learning is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning essential knowledge and life-engaging skills through an inquiry process structured around authentic questions and carefully designed projects. Project-based learning requires the integration of different subject areas to complete the projects and that is how the curriculum at Willowwind is organized. The basic knowledge of science is integrated with social studies and literacy skills to create meaningful curriculum units.
2016-2017 School Year
During the 2016-2017 school year, we will cover three units: Plants, Inventions, and Motion & Design.
Although these units are taught at different times in the year, the basic concepts will be referred to throughout the year. What student learn about plants will be related to our study of the geography of Iowa and our study of the Regions of the United States. The unit on Inventions and Motion and Design will be referenced in both social studies units also, such as the evolution of farming equipment and the Industrial Revolution in the Northeast Region. Each unit uses hands-on activities that make the learning meaningful and fun. We use the Invent Iowa curriculum to help the students prepare an invention to enter the statewide event. As part of the preparation we will have our own Willowwind Invention Convention during our Community Night at Willowwind School.
We will also have an outdoor education emphasis at Willowwind School as we visit School of the Wild and other nature areas in Iowa City. Students will increase their observation skills by keeping a nature journal. Students will also write about science in a lab notebook that we keep throughout each science unit. Students are expected to make predictions, record observations, and write responses in this journal. Students will also prepare and carry out an experiments during the Plants unit and Motion and Design unit.
Literacy skills will be taught and practiced throughout the units. The focus is on paragraph length entries to journals. Longer written pieces will occur in the form of two written reports. The steps for longer pieces of writing are covered in the language arts section of this overview.
The Plants unit will cover the following major concepts:
- Plants and other organisms are part of an organized system that regulates their life cycles and their interactions with the environment.
- Organisms go through distinct stages as part of a process known as the life cycle.
- Plants can grow and develop only in environments in which their needs are met.
- To move through their life cycle, plants need light, water, and nutrients from the soil.
- Living things are interdependent; for example, to reproduce, plants must be pollinated by bees.
- Why people invent
- The specific human needs that motivate invention vary with place and time.
- Characteristics of inventors
- Problem solving is linked to leadership, creativity, survival skills, and improvements in the quality of life.
- Problem solving is a series of steps to be followed to reach a solution to a need or want.
- Characteristics of Calvin Taylor’s Model for creative thinking
- Inventors must patent their ideas and keep up with current needs.
- Critical thinking skills about the inventive process
- The products of technological design must meet certain specifications, which are set forth in technical drawings.
- Technological designs and products may be evaluated in terms of their cost, as well as their scientific and technological efficiency.
- Newton’s Three Laws of Motion
- An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion remains in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted on by a force.
- Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The greater the mass of the object being accelerated, the greater the amount of force needed to accelerate the object.
- For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
2017-2018 School Year
During the 2017-2018 school year, we will cover three units: Earth Materials, Solar System and Human Body. These units will be integrated into our study of Communities and Language Arts.
The Earth Materials unit will cover the following major concepts:
- The processes of physical and chemical weathering
- The composition of soil
- How the slow processes of erosion and deposition alter landforms
- How the fast processes of earthquakes and volcanoes alter landforms
- How to identify minerals in common rocks
- How earth materials are used in the community
The Solar System unit will cover the following major concepts:
- Observe and compare shadows during a school day.
- Relate the position of the Sun in the sky to the size and orientation of an object’s shadow.
- Use physical models to explain day and night.
- Record observations of the night sky.
- Observe and record changes in the Moon’s appearance every day for a month.
- Analyze observational data to discover the sequence of changes that occur during the Moon’s phase cycle.
- Make and interpret a model of the Earth, Moon, and Sun system.
- Classify planets by their various properties.
- Record and display the organization of the solar system graphically.
- Identify several constellations as stable, predictable patterns of stars.
- Use models to build explanations.
- Major organ of each system
- How this organ interacts with the rest of that system
- How each system interacts with the other systems
- How to provide health and wellness for each system