Middle School Science

The middle school courses include the study of some of the great scientists who laid the foundation for our western view of the world through the scientific method.  Science at Gerstell Academy promotes active learning and inquiry-based, interdisciplinary science instruction for all students that builds an excitement for thinking creatively, making decisions, and using problem-solving strategies to investigate and understand the natural world.  The 6th grade focuses on life science and it is the first step in the three year middle school curriculum.  The living things around us serve as the subjects of study for this course, including ecology, cell life and structure, life processes, classification, genetics, and organisms.  By using hands-on experiments and projects, students will develop skills in problem solving, recording and analyzing complex data, identification of unknown species and much more.  The goal is to develop student awareness of and respect for all living things and the environments on which they depend on.  This life science course will allow students to acquire the knowledge that they will need to be successful when they take physical science in 7th grade and earth science in 8th grade.  Physical science explores the law of nature, actions, reactions, and the forces of nature and chemistry at work around us.  The eighth grade course builds on the foundation of grades 6 and 7 to look at the science of the earth.  Geology, forces of nature, and their effects on the earth over time are considered.