Arlington School & Family Magazine May/June 2016 | Page 23

West Elementary Science is always at the forefront at West Elementary. From first graders exploring the soil beneath their feet to sixth-grade students creating models of volcanoes, science inquiry is alive and well in every classroom. Students take ownership of their education through hands-on experiences, writing about the new concepts they are learning and showing what they have learned in student-created products. First graders investigate soil samples and categorize their findings into living and non-living objects. Fourth graders investigate owl pellets to learn about consumers and producers as parts of the food web. Second and third graders observe the orderly changes in the diverse life cycle of the painted lady butterfly before releasing them into their natural habitat. Second-grade students also visited Texas Discovery Gardens to experience the butterfly garden and further their learning. Fifth graders experience the relationships, systems and cycles within an environment through creating and observing ecosystems that included living plants, fist and insects. Sixth graders learn about the process of rock formation and create models of volcanoes to illustrate the structural layers of the Earth. Arlington School & Family 21