PROGRAMS - ELEMENTARY - HISTORY
History
History is the recorded story of human life and our world today is a product of the choices, interpretations, considerations, and understandings of the humans that preceded us. The satisfaction of the most basic of human needs, food and shelter, by these early humans begins the history curriculum. The continuing satisfaction and evolution of these needs through time led to the building up of physical and spiritual territories resulting in development of civilizations. The progression of human social, political, religious, and cultural development provides the framework for history in the elementary classroom.
History is presented to the child through the use of story, impressionistic charts, maps, and elaborately detailed timelines. Local museums and field trips to historic places help make history come alive. Many of the stories and presentations are repeated each year, but the depth of study increases as the child progresses. Historical fiction is used in the upper elementary to help transport the child's imagination back in time. The upper elementary class studies one of these aspects of history in depth each year in a three-year cycle: Ancient Civilizations (2001-02), U.S. History through the Civil War (2002-03), and California History (2003-04).. The upper elementary students' work includes discussions, reading, debates, essay writing, research reports, and long-term group projects.
History Scope
- Fundamental human needs across cultures and history
- Prehistoric human life
- Early civilizations
- Exploration
- Migration
- Myth, legend, and story as oral history
- Use and making of timelines
- European history from the fall of Rome to the Age of Discovery
- U.S. from pre-Columbian to present day
- California from native cultures to present day
- Reading and writing historical fiction
- Governmental structures
Life Science
Biology at the elementary level primarily focuses on the physiology and needs of plants and animals. All plants and animals are bound together by their needs. Both plants and animals have developed special functions in order to satisfy their needs, thus sustaining life. Students are given the opportunity to study and observe a wide variety of plants and animals; comparing and contrasting how a plant or animal functions. This is the basis for scientific study. As students investigate, question, and research plants and animals they also become aware of the interdependence that exists between all life forms.
The human role in sustaining this delicate balance and ecological awareness are natural extensions in the process of learning more about the natural world. The biology curriculum helps students become caretakers of our earth.
Life Science Scope:
- Evolution of life on earth
- Needs of plants and their parts
- Needs of animals and their body systems
- The classification of animals and plants
- Interdependencies and ecosystems
- Human physiology
- Human reproduction and development
- Cell structure
- Human impact upon the environment
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