Science

 

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“Inspire all learners to be critical thinkers questioning the world around them.”

 

At Papatoetoe West School our goal is to provide students with a broad and varied culturally responsive curriculum which enables students to explore and discover the world around them, giving them a deeper understanding of the local community and the  world we live in.  Students explore the natural physical world through science so that they can participate as critical, informed, and responsible citizens in a society in which science plays a significant role.  

Our overarching strand is the nature of science.  Through it, students learn what science is and how scientists work. They develop the skills, attitudes and values to build a foundation for understanding their world. This will be explored through:

• understanding about science: exploring science ideas, forming scientific explanations, science knowledge and the culture of science
• investigating in science: the nature of student investigations, attitudes that support investigations, carrying out an investigation and interpreting observations
• communicating in science: developing knowledge of the vocabulary, numeric and symbol systems, and conventions of science, and using this knowledge to
• communicate about their own and others’ ideas
• participating and contributing: bringing a scientific perspective to decisions and actions as appropriate 

The capabilities that will be developed through science are:

• gather and interpret data: make careful observations and differentiate between observations and inference
• use evidence: support own ideas with evidence
• critique evidence: realise that not all questions can be answered by science, check validity of evidence
• interpret representations:  represent ideas in a variety of ways - models, graphs, reports, charts, diagrams
• engage with science: use other capabilities to engage science with ‘real life’ contexts                   

Using an overview, the nature of science will be explored through the context of: 

• the Living World
• planet Earth and Beyond
• the Physical World
• the Material World

Science is also promoted through:

• all classes having a Wonder Table to promote a sense of wonder and nurture a sense of curiosity
• the school being kaitiaki of Te Repo o Kohuora
• teaching about sustainability and looking after the environment through participation in the Enviroschools and Garden CRT programme
• participating in the Garden to Table programme
• themed Science boxes to support teaching and learning
• visitors such as the Tread Lightly Caravan, Science in a Van and students visiting places outside the school with a science focus