The North Branch School
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Science

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In our three year science curriculum at NBS, the overarching themes are physical science, earth science, and life science, with climate, environment, and energy topics interwoven throughout.  Uniting science with action, we take an integrated, active, inquiry and evidence-based approach, practicing the process of science, using data to draw conclusions, and employing engineering strategies. Using science content to make a difference, such as in reaching for Vermont’s 90% renewables by 2050 initiative, is a lens through which we study physical, earth and life science. For example, we look at data from NASA and other sources on ice core sampling, sea level change, and CO2 cycles, create and test control and experimental models of the earth’s atmosphere and earth’s oceans to deepen our understanding of these effects, calculate our own carbon footprints,  then make our own evidence-based claims around climate change and propose solutions.  In our study of physical science, we explore the science of motion, matter, waves, electricity and energy use, trace where our energy is coming from, create and explore model circuits, grids, motors, generators and photovoltaic cells, analyze our own energy use at school, and explore alternatives and design solutions.  

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Philosophy and Goals
Science at NBS is intended to be a hands-on, minds-on experience, rich in opportunities for students to engage with and explore the world around them on many levels and by a variety of means. Students generate essential questions around anchoring phenomena drawn from their local environment, hobbies, current environmental challenges, ideas and events. Through experiments, research, observations, and model building we try to answer those questions, figure out how and why an event occurred, the conditions and consequences, and propose solutions based on evidence gathered, research, and deepened understanding.

Students develop skills of problem solving, communication, collaboration, self management, the ability to apply knowledge to new and more challenging areas, as well as the ability to justify their own claims. They discover and make connections among science ideas and develop scientific literacy, engage in inquiry, evaluate explanations and evidence presented to determine their credibility and validity. Tools, technology and mathematical thinking are used to collect, interpret and present data. Students learn  that science knowledge is not static but changes over time.

We spend time indoors and out, conduct frequent investigations and experiments, fill science notebooks, invite visitors, travel on field trips, conduct engineering challenges and a yearly science fair/symposium. We strive to  utilize our location, to get the students outside and moving with their hands on material, to make science exciting, fun, and meaningful, while integrated with math, art and humanities curricula. Our major goal is for students to develop  questioning minds that make and test hypotheses as a way of thinking across any subject in order to better understand the world and to make informed decisions in their own lives and of greater societal imperative.
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Curriculum Highlights
  • Climate change, carbon emissions and human activity, making meaning through models, and working toward a solution
  • Physical science of motion and forces, energy and matter, atoms and elements, waves, electricity and magnetism
  • Energy sources; renewables and non-renewables; international, national, state and local initiatives; the science of photovoltaics
  • Earth systems, models and mapping, chemistry, minerals, rocks, and resources, Earth dynamics, weathering,  water, and erosion, the oceans and atmospheric forces, and space
  • Biological principles, cells and genetics, evolution and ecology, microorganisms, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates, human biology and health.

Specific Topics Over the Three-Year Science Curriculum:
Physical Science
Scientific Problem Solving
Describing Motion
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Work and Simple Machines
Forces and Fluids
Energy and Matter
Energy Resources
Thermal Energy
Foundations of Chemistry
States of Matter
Understanding the Atom
The Periodic Table
Elements and Chemical Bonds
Reactions and Equations
Mixtures, Solubility, Acid/Base Solutions
Waves
Sound
Electromagnetic Waves
Light
Electricity
Magnetism
Student science assignment
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Life Science
Exploring and Classifying Life
Cells
Cell Processes
Cell Reproduction
Heredity
Adaptations over time
Bacteria
Protists and Fungi
Plants
Plant Reproduction
Plant Processes
Introduction to Animals
Mollusks, Worms, Arthropods, Echinoderms
Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Birds and Mammals
Animal Behavior
Structure and Movement
Nutrients and Digestion
Circulation
Respiration and Excretion
Control and Coordination
Regulation and Reproduction
Immunity and Disease
Interactions of Life
The Nonliving Environment
Ecosystems
Conserving Resources
Earth Science
Matter
Minerals
Rocks
Earth’s Energy and Resources
Views of Earth
Weathering and Soil
Erosion
Plate tectonics
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Earth’s Past
Geologic Time
Atmosphere
Weather
Climate
Ocean cycles and motion
Oceanography
Human Impacts on Land, Air and Water
Exploring Space
The Sun-Earth-Moon System
The Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
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General Science Skills
Scientific method
SI Units
Scientific Notation
Scientific Inquiry and Hypotheses
Laboratory Procedures and Safety
Using Laboratory Equipment
Data Collection, Representation and Analysis
Scientists and Science History
Science and Engineering Practice
The North Branch School is a non-profit, independent school serving middle school age children (grades 7-9).
Contact Us ​         

The North Branch School
PO Box 209      
898 Lincoln Road 
Ripton, VT  05766

802.388.3269  |  nbs@northbranchschool.org
  • Home
    • Contact
  • About
    • About the North Branch School
    • Faculty/Staff
    • Curriculum >
      • Humanities
      • Science
      • Math
    • A Three-Year Experience
    • Writing from the Head Teacher
    • "The Current" Newsletter
  • Admissions
    • Applying to the North Branch School
    • Application
  • Support
    • Support the North Branch School
    • Fundraising Overview
    • Donate
    • NBS Store
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Stories
  • Current Families
  • Hockey Tournament
  • Photos