When do schools start doing more science? (Elementary)

[Anonymous]

My kid is not very fond of academics in general but loves science, so I'm looking forward to her getting to spend more time on that so school feels a little less boring to her. She's in 2nd grade this year and it looks like she'll only have 1.5 hours a week that'll be split between science, social studies, and health, so very little time on science again this year. When might we expect this to increase, and by how much? Are there countywide guidelines for this or is it up to the individual school? How much time do your elementary school students spend on science?

[Anonymous]

Not until middle school when there is a dedicated class for science. In elementary school, ELA and math are the focus (sadly).

[Anonymous]

High school AP classes.

Middle school science is an overview of the basics, and it's fine.

In general, public schools are better at STEM than private schools, and private schools are better at teaching writing (which needs a lot of personal feedback that public school teachers don't have the time to give).

- research scientist

[Anonymous]

My kids, now 10th graders, had less science instruction in upper elementary than in lower elementary. One of them didn’t have a science teacher for 3/4 of 7th grade. Maybe MCPS is trying to make up for it, because one of them was mistakenly placed in both chemistry and physics this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High school AP classes.

Middle school science is an overview of the basics, and it's fine.

In general, public schools are better at STEM than private schools, and private schools are better at teaching writing (which needs a lot of personal feedback that public school teachers don't have the time to give).

- research scientist

Outside of magnet high schools, it’s patently false that private schools are better at STEM.

For one, my kid has a science class in 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High school AP classes.

Middle school science is an overview of the basics, and it's fine.

In general, public schools are better at STEM than private schools, and private schools are better at teaching writing (which needs a lot of personal feedback that public school teachers don't have the time to give).

- research scientist

Outside of magnet high schools, it’s patently false that private schools are better at STEM.

For one, my kid has a science class in 1st grade.

Sorry, should’ve said it’s false that private schools are worse at STEM.

This myth needs to die. We’ve proven it false time and again, and yet I see it repeated over and over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids, now 10th graders, had less science instruction in upper elementary than in lower elementary. One of them didn’t have a science teacher for 3/4 of 7th grade. Maybe MCPS is trying to make up for it, because one of them was mistakenly placed in both chemistry and physics this year.

But I thought public schools are SO GOOD at STEM.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in MCPS, but I think that this depends on the school and the teacher. The main science guy at DC's school did much more science work with 4-5th grader (he's a fan of Piaget's cognitive stages). They had at least two hours of science instruction a week. And then there is that fact that in Virginia there is a science SOL at the end of fifth grade that tests both fourth and fifth grade content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in MCPS, but I think that this depends on the school and the teacher. The main science guy at DC's school did much more science work with 4-5th grader (he's a fan of Piaget's cognitive stages). They had at least two hours of science instruction a week. And then there is that fact that in Virginia there is a science SOL at the end of fifth grade that tests both fourth and fifth grade content.

It shouldn’t depend on the school and the teacher. Science should be something every kid gets instruction in, during every grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in MCPS, but I think that this depends on the school and the teacher. The main science guy at DC's school did much more science work with 4-5th grader (he's a fan of Piaget's cognitive stages). They had at least two hours of science instruction a week. And then there is that fact that in Virginia there is a science SOL at the end of fifth grade that tests both fourth and fifth grade content.

It shouldn’t depend on the school and the teacher. Science should be something every kid gets instruction in, during every grade.

They do. But not every day in MCPS elem schools. There is just so much to cover, and reading/math are considered foundational. It’s hard to teach science if they kids can’t read the lab directions, measure the results, and write down the answer.

[Anonymous]

My kids are grown. As I recall when they developed Curriculum 2.0, they tried to incorporate some science and social studies into the reading curriculum, which I think has been replaced. You may be left with the lousy science curriculum my kids had before that. To compensate, my school’s PTA allowed an outside enrichment group called Hands on Science to come in and offer an after-school enrichment program, which was wildly popular. You might check with your PTA and see if that program, or something similar, might be available at your school.

The STEM magnets are great and I think the specialty programs are generally good too. The very limited info I had on the standard MCPS middle school science classes are that they weren’t great, but at least there were formal classes, which is an improvement over your current elementary science program.

Here are some other resources:

Hoagie’s has links to websites for enrichment for all subjects and ages:
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/science.htm
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

Brainpop has great animated lessons in many subjects, but does charge a fairly significant fee.

Rockville has an annual science day in the Spring. I don’t see 2024 info yet, but here’s info from 2023.
https://www.rockvillesciencecenter.org/rockville-science-day

[Anonymous]

In 5th grade, my kid did about an hour a day of either science or social studies. They would rotate between the two every six or seven weeks. Now in middle school, she has a dedicated science period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in MCPS, but I think that this depends on the school and the teacher. The main science guy at DC's school did much more science work with 4-5th grader (he's a fan of Piaget's cognitive stages). They had at least two hours of science instruction a week. And then there is that fact that in Virginia there is a science SOL at the end of fifth grade that tests both fourth and fifth grade content.

It shouldn’t depend on the school and the teacher. Science should be something every kid gets instruction in, during every grade.

They do. But not every day in MCPS elem schools. There is just so much to cover, and reading/math are considered foundational. It’s hard to teach science if they kids can’t read the lab directions, measure the results, and write down the answer.

Is anyone suggesting otherwise?

And show me that science really is taught in every grade.

[Anonymous]

https://www.youtube.com/@besmart
and similar channels.

[Anonymous]

There is not much time spent on teaching Science in ES. Our MS science teacher regularly laments the fact that our kids don’t get much Science instruction in ES. Our MS gets kids from 4 different ESs, and it’s the same at all of them.

MS Science gets a teeny bit better, only because it is actually taught as a subject.