Helping students uncover the science mysteries in young minds is the task for the third grade team at Korn School. The Third Grade Science Curriculum has standards developed at the state level and reinforced in Regional School District 13. Students are expected to become active learners using enriched mind exploring and hands-on science units that combine both text and laboratory projects. The thematic units that are taught are the following:

• Properties of Matter (physical science)
• Heredity and Evolution (life science)
• Energy in the Earth's Systems (earth science)
• Science and Technology in Society (reduce, reuse, and recycle)

In asking students to become "little scientists," a technique we teach is called the scientific inquiry method. This method is structured by creating a problem, stating a hypothesis, testing a possible solution, making sound observations, and drawing a conclusion. A grade level inquiry task that each student explores is called a curriculum embedded performance task. This real-life experiment, Soggy Paper, has the students find out which type of paper holds the most water. Students spend time testing the three different types of paper with the watchful eye of the adult leading the students toward a meaningful outcome.

Team teaching with our Outdoor Education Department, students use Allyn Brook stream for a wondrous hands-on field trip. Korn School is lucky to have a stream and its woodland surroundings which quickly becomes a functional lab site. Students can make sound observations, detailed drawings, and pose numerous questions about the water and land ecosystems.

These hands-on science units were developed to make students aware that the knowledge of science can lead to a happier and fuller appreciation of the life and world around them.