Science at Zhongshi is taught with a biblical worldview about the nature of creation and taught in a way that it leads the students towards the Creator. It uses “Hands on”, “Minds on”, and “Hearts on” principle. Hands on implies that students are actively manipulating materials and conducting investigations, “minds on” implies that students would be actively engaged in thinking and planning investigations, making inferences, identifying patterns and trends, drawing conclusions and developing understanding. “Hearts on” on the other hand implies that students are happy and passionate about communicating what and how they are learning. Also it implies that they know how to acknowledge that it is their responsibility to explore and understand the physical laws, and everything about the world around them which have already existed in the beginning, not simply for the sake of knowledge acquisition but rather so they can be better stewards and ultimately be led to further appreciate the Creator.
Key stage 1 (Grades 1 – 2)
Grades 1 – 2 take five Science periods per week.
Students observe, explore and ask questions about living things, materials and phenomena. They begin to work together to collect evidence to help them answer questions and to link them to simple scientific ideas. They use reference materials to find out more about scientific ideas. They share their ideas and communicate them using scientific language, drawings, charts and tables.
Key Stage 2 (Grades 3 – 5)
Grades 3– 5 take five science periods per week
Students learn about a wider range of living things, materials and phenomena. They begin to explain things using simple models and theories. They apply their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas to familiar phenomena, everyday things and their personal health. They carry out more systematic investigations working on their own and with others. They use a range of resources in their work, talk about their work, and communicate their ideas using a wider range of scientific language, diagrams, charts and graphs.
Key stage 3 (Grades 6 – 8)
Grades 6 – 8 take 5 Science periods per week
Students build on their scientific knowledge and understanding and use these to explain physical processes and events, and to understand a range of familiar application of science. They do more quantitative work, carrying out investigations on their own and with others. They select and use a wider range of reference sources. They communicate clearly what they did and its significance.
Key Stage 4 ( Grade 9 – 10 )
Students study Biology, Chemistry and Physics as separate subjects with 2 – 3 periods per week for each field.
They learn about a wider range of scientific ideas and consider them in greater depth to prepare them for a further study, and for the requirements of the University of Cambridge Internal Examinations IGCSE tests and other equivalent high school courses.
Key Stage 5 (Grade 11 – 12)
Students choose and do a more specialized study in either of Biology, Chemistry or Physics to prepare for AS or A level qualification from University of Cambridge Internal Examinations.