Teaching children to think like scientists
Science in our elementary and middle school curriculum
When two preschoolers climb onto a seesaw, they quickly figure out how to tip the beam from one side to the other. They sense how to shift their weight in order to balance the structure between them and how to make it go faster or slower with their movements. It’s play, but it’s also a demonstration of a natural human curiosity and intuition about how the world works—in this case, what’s described in physics as a lever, a simple tool with a beam and fulcrum, which can be used for leverage of heavy loads.
In the Waldorf elementary and middle school classrooms, teachers approach science education with the same spirit of imagination and discovery we see in the young child. While teachers bring scientific lessons to the class, science isn’t confined to the classroom, but taught through rich multidisciplinary learning experiences in which students are guided in observing natural phenomena, evaluating what they are observing, and learning to draw conclusions about their experience.
Hands-on and experiential learning is key to the MWS science curriculum in the early grades. During their study of agriculture and ecology, 3rd graders mix clippings, manure, and straw to make compost in the school’s biodynamic garden, giving them a real-world understanding of the carbon cycle. During their study of the animal kingdom, 4th graders use clay to sculpt an animal’s body, gaining a hands-on understanding of anatomy and function. Even playing a wind or stringed instrument—which all our students begin in 4th grade—is a way to understand acoustics.
In our middle school classrooms, where 6th, 7th, and 8th graders explore complex topics in chemistry, physics, physiology, biology, and geology, science instruction begins with observation, using what is known as a phenomenological approach to science instruction. In a phenomenological approach, students aren’t introduced to scientific principles through lectures and reading. Instead, a lesson begins with experiment, observation, and hypothesis. Students learn the concept behind a phenomena after observing it and drawing their own conclusions.
Here’s a video of then-7th grade teacher Ms. Terziev performing a simple experiment in combustion called “The Flaming Jug.” Ms. Terziev did not explain the demonstration or its purpose before she began. She asked her students to watch carefully, in silence.
After watching the experiment, students brought their questions and theories to the group, inspiring both curiosity and critical thinking in the classroom. When they'd finished the discussion, Ms. Terziev explained states of matter and what caused the rapid combustion inside the bottle.
It’s an approach that helps students build a meaningful understanding of complex scientific concepts. By encouraging children to observe, to use their senses, and to discover through experience, we encourage them to approach problems in science like scientists. The result is students who know how to use original thinking, imagination, enthusiasm, and problem solving in their approach to science—and bring these skills to any advance-level discipline.