All WCPS Elementary School students take a Science Class.  The scheduling of science varies from school to school, but in general, students should expect to average 30 minutes per day in science.

The Elementary School Science Curriculum takes a spiraled approach in which topics are examined and reexamined in subsequent grades with increasing complexity, rigor, and sophistication.

Vision

All students will become scientifically and environmentally literate individuals who are skilled, reflective, and empowered to make informed decisions that benefit themselves, their families, and their local and global communities within an increasingly complex and continually changing world.

Mission

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Office of Science prioritizes coherence, collaboration, and communication to lead Maryland’s local school systems and other stakeholders in achieving high quality, three-dimensional science teaching, learning, and assessment across all science disciplines and in all grade levels to develop scientifically and environmentally literate graduates.

Maryland Science Standards

Science instruction in Maryland schools aims for all students to successfully achieve the ambitious vision of Maryland’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The standards include rigorous performance expectations for each level of school and seamlessly incorporate the practices of science with the content of science. For more information on Maryland’s Science Standards, please contact the Science Coordinator or visit the Next Gen Science website.

Kindergarten

• Life and the Environment

• Weather and Climate

• Pushes and Pulls

1st Grade

• Waves: Light and Sound

• Structure, Function, and Information Processing

• Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles

2nd Grade

• Structure and Properties of Matter

• Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

• Earth's Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth

3rd Grade

• Forces and Interactions

• Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Environmental Impacts on Organisms

• Inheritance and Variation of Traits: Life Cycles and Traits

• Weather and Climate

4th Grade

• Energy and Waves

• Structure, Function, and Information Processing

• Earth’s Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth

5th Grade

• Structure and Properties of Matter

• Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

• Earth’s Systems

• Space Systems: Stars and the Solar System