Science & Technology

At NEST+m Lower School, science is a central part of the students’ everyday routine, using FOSS science modules, an inquiry-based curriculum. Starting with basic observations in kindergarten and moving through more complex experiments and data collection in the upper grades, students learn about concepts such as meteorology, balance and motion, the physics of sound, the properties and composition of water, astronomy, landforms, and the human body.

Beginning in third grade, students have a weekly computer science class with Chess & Technology teacher Zachary Vine. A mobile computer station brings MacBooks to each classroom. Students begin their computer studies by learning the basic hierarchical structure of a computer; they move on to typing, word-processing, and researching skills; finally they learn basic programming, using the Scratch program developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Computer lessons are integrated with the thematic studies being explored by each class.