Environments-local and far-flung, external and internal-will be explored. Students delve into the complex characteristics of various ecosystems and the plant and animal life that each such region supports. They will embark on this process by studying the Arbor environment in detail, mapping parts of the campus, cataloguing the plant life of the woods and fields, and presenting the whole in a concrete manner. Experiments in botany will predominate at this time. Mathematical topics will include those needed to assist the children in measuring directly and indirectly and in using those measurements in meaningful ways.

Topics:
Plant Physiology & Experimentation/Botanical Drawing; Drawing; Ecological Niche; Habitat Adaptation;
Cycles: Water, Photosynthetic, Nitrogen, Food Chain; Measurement/Graphing/Building/Mapping; Ecosytems/Biomes/Climatic Regions; The Human Body & the Mind; Scientific Classification of the Biological World; Oceanography; Observational Writing; Biography

Intermediates will encounter the ways in which people's ideas about the world have changed. We will examine both conceptual and technical discoveries: from the invention of writing to the invention of the first printing press, from the Odyssey to the Arthurian legends, from the use of zero to the development of algebra, from the discovery of the principle of the arch to the flying buttress. Student-drawn maps will chronicle the currents of major intellectual developments through the Western worlds. Throughout the year we will return to the study of astronomy, seeing the world as the ancients saw it, following Galileo in his courageous attempt to create a new understanding, and being astronomers ourselves. The final project of the year will involve the children in creating their own inventive solutions to a problem and crafting, by writing, setting type for, printing, and binding a class book.

Topics:
The Ancient Western World: Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Rome
Early Developments in Writing, Counting Systems, Building Principles, and Astronomy; Mythology; Epic Poetry; Ancient Architecture; Density, Mass, Volume
The Middle Ages and Europe
The Rise of Islam; The Three Estates of Medieval Society; Arthurian Legends and Historical Fiction; Tesselations and Simple Machines and Fundamental Mechanical Principles
The Renaissance in Europe
Brahe, Copernicus, Galileo; The Mathematics of Science; The Printing Press; Ballads; Portraiture; Optics; Mapping; Biography