Science

During the Apollo program NASA created a slogan for all of its employees to help focus their work. Each NASA employee received a card imprinted with the phrase, “Go to the moon.” Any task or work that was to be completed needed to support that statement, whether it was done by the mission commander or the custodian. In that same spirit, the Breck science department fosters curiosity about the natural world, encourages learning through inquiry, and develops critical thinking at all ages.

 

The Breck science department fosters curiosity about the natural world, encourages learning through inquiry, and develops critical thinking at all ages.

Caleb Kumar '13, Stanford '17, Stanford School of Medicine '18

The science research program at Breck is a challenging program that can provide many benefits. When I joined the program, I was young and impressionable and the greatest benefits from the research program were that it provided a framework for problem solving and improved my ability to communicate complex ideas to people of all backgrounds. First, the research program taught me to apply the scientific method to real-world problems. For me, exposure to this framework changed the way I approached both scientific and non-scientific problems. I learned to make impartial decisions based on empirical evidence using the process of observation, creation of a hypothesis, and experimentation. Second, the research program required me to create separate presentations for people of varying backgrounds, ranging from laymen to experts in our field of research. This skill improves your ability to communicate complex problems in both a simple and sophisticated manner. Another presentation skill that students are taught is the ability to communicate your research under time constraints. Short, 'elevator pitch', presentations and long academic presentations are both required.

 

The Advanced Science Research Program

The Advanced Science Research Program gives the opportunity to students interested in science to have an actual research experience. The students are placed in a research lab with a faculty mentor and spends time during the summer pursuing a research project of his or her choosing. Students are matched based on their interests and talents with university mentors. Then they work for at least 320 hours during the summer in the lab, starting either during May Program or the first week of June. Summer research experiences are offered at universities and colleges such as the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas, and Augsburg, to name a few. During research, students learn to use a vast array of databases to find information on their research topic. As they work in the laboratory, students keep a notebook following the guidelines of the laboratory in which they work.  Learn more about the class by visiting our curriculum below.
 

Get to know our faculty

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Anthony Amankwa

Science Lab Assistant

Charles Gorrill

Computer Science Teacher

Kathryn Hoffman

Upper School Science Teacher

Becky Jacobson

Middle School Science Teacher

Our Curriculum