Science at The Dragon
The Integrated Progressive Science Programme
The Dragon's Integrated Progressive Science Programme (IPSP), recipient of
a two year grant from the AKC Fund, addresses the quality and effectiveness of
science education through the curricular integration of the study of sciences,
humanities and arts, the construction and analysis of real-world problems,
projects and experiments to cover the central issues, tenets and methods of
science. Teachers in the IPSP are committed to countering the dominance of
authority, brokering a partnership between teacher and student, forming a
learning community with shared values and common goals, not to mention working
in our beautiful new laboratory.
Most North American science programs are
dis-integrated, breaking scientific knowledge early into distinct and
un-related fields, enabling and perhaps unwittingly encouraging students to
study only parts of the whole. This approach has not proven the best
preparation for post-secondary, let alone post-graduate scientific studies. It
has not encouraged students to pursue the study of science beyond the high
school level, nor included women and minorities in the numbers aimed for and
needed. The Dragon IPSP corrects the inadequacies of a traditional science
curriculum through enrichment, constructivist practices, discussion-based
classrooms, and documenting, evaluating and disseminating our findings.
The IPSP will also form the base of a spiral
curriculum, in which key concepts and skills recur in ever more sophisticated
and widely applicable form across the four years of the high school programme,
as well as across the traditionally distinct subject fields. The IPSP is an
expression of our commitment to the larger goal of improving schooling as the
best means of preserving and furthering the conditions of a democratic society.
Humanity faces urgent problems, on the solution of which our prosperity and
even our survival depend. To solve these problems we need to define and create
an educated population, intelligent and informed followers of resourceful and
innovative leaders, who are motivated to work for the improvement of society
and of the globe.
The Dragon Academy inspires student interest in the
connections between politics, ecology, and science. Particularly original is
our interest in making the work of student scientists serve as active research.
As a component of the civics program, led by Dr. Halvorson, students replaced
lighting to lower the carbon emissions of the school. In Math class, the
students ran the data to determine how much of an impact was made. After study,
under the guidance of Mr. Russo, students calculated and graphed the results.
In 2008-09, the school's CO2 output will be cut by 2000 metric tons. The
results of the student initiative can be found at:
http://www.greendragonproject.blogspot.com/ Such projects
have direct, palpable and immediate local impact, on the individual, on the
school, and the local community. Through our internet site we hope to link with
far-flung student groups, to inspire and support similar projects globally.
