Curriculum Overview

The Science is Elementary curriculum has been developed in-house by experienced science educators to reflect the organization’s pedagogical philosophy.

Our curriculum follows California state standards as well as the recently releases Next Generation Science Standards formulated by the Na­tional Research Council.

Our curriculum acts as a continuum; lessons in each consecutive year build on what has been taught the previous year.  The Curriculum Map reflects what is currently being taught by our volunteers at each grade level.

Volunteers meet monthly with students in their classrooms and follow guided lesson plans.  Each month, they introduce a new unit which contains a:

• Guided Lesson Plan
• Reading List
• Teacher Toolkit
• Take-home kits

The Guided Lesson Plan includes background science for the unit, a vocabulary list for the students, a detailed description of the lesson, including step-by-step instructions and illustrations of the experiments, readings about the subject, a list of suggested questions to ask the students, and a suggested script for volunteers.

The Reading List recommends books for teachers to read to students as well as grade level appropriate books for students to read themselves. This list is provided to the teachers ahead of time and serves as an introduction to the unit.

The Teacher Toolkit contains background scientific information about the unit, the vocabulary list, a summary of the experiments, and a list of suggested follow-up experiments.

The Take-home kits are given to each student twice  a year. They include materials to conduct experiments at home along with instructions. This engages parents in their children’s education.