State College Friends School

Welcome to our

Upper School Science page

In upper school science, students learn science through inquiry and experimentation.  These methods catch the natural curiosity of each adolescentand ignite a desire to

learn more.  

Throughout the middle school years, we cycle through topics so that each student gets a variety of experiences in each topic.

 

Area One: Earth and Space Sciences

The year starts off with a bang, quite literally. The first day of class sees students exploding black balloons filled with stars of different colors (and weights) to model the Big Bang and the formation of galaxies. The students model the space-time continuum using spandex and golf balls, formulate hypotheses about what happens past the event horizon of a black hole, and consider what the asteroid belt tells us about our own solar system. Throughout the year, the students learn about tectonic plates, use an extensive mineral collection to study the makeup of the earth, and ponder the scale of geologic time.   They also consider the earth’s waters and weather patterns (and how they are affected by both celestial bodies and humans themselves), astronomy throughout the ages, and space exploration.

Area Two: Biology

Students begin life science study with observations of microhabitats around the schoolyard. They then build their understandings of ecosystem services and communities with visits to Shingletown Gap, a local forest and watershed area, and through the manipulation of “classroom ecosystems” such as planted aquaria and terrariums. After gaining a solid understanding of the interdependence of local ecosystems, students expand their view to in-depth studies of world biomes. Here, emphasis is placed on how organisms adapt to unique environments to fill their role within the ecosystem and on the ways in which groups of organisms are related.

Using adaptation as a jumping-off point, students study similarities and differences in the anatomies and physiologies of organism groups through observation and dissection to comprehend evolution. This leads to an examination of evolution on a genetic and molecular level and culminates in a discussion of human reproduction.

 

Area Three: Physics

Slinkies, toy cars, model roller coasters, and wind-up toys are among the playful things we use to do serious science—like how to calculate speed, velocity, friction, momentum, efficiency and mechanical advantage of simple and complex machines, and acceleration.  During this semester, students also have an opportunity to design, build, and race model solar cars in Penn State’s solar car competition.  They become proficient at using and understanding concepts like Archimede's Principle, Newton’s Laws, Bernoulli’s Principle, the Law of Universal Gravitation, Pascal’s Principle, and the laws of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy.

Area Four: Chemistry

Seventh and eighth grade students start their year with a simple but delicious “formula”:

cream + sugar + vanilla = ice cream

While the students churn, they closely observe the freezing process and form hypotheses about why salt is added to the ice. From there, students discover the differences between physical and chemical changes (brightly burning metals, purple smoke!). Once the difference between physical and chemical changes has been established, students investigate the underpinnings of the periodic table that influence chemical interactions and bonding through further experiments and simulations. They also learn to identify the main types of chemical reactions, acids and bases, and endothermic and exothermic reactions through experimentation reinforced by discussion, journaling, and assessment. Students finish out their year with an introduction to organic chemistry.

Fossil Finders

The upper school classes have also been working on Fossil Finders, a research project sponsored by Cornell University.  We are one of only 20 schools nation-wide that were selected to participate this year.  This project involves the students in primary research on the impact of climate change on Devonian organisms.  The data collected and analyzed by the students will be used by scientists at the Paleontological Research Institute.  For more information, please see http://www.fossilfinders.org

 

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