Science
It is the goal of the Newark Public Schools to provide a foundation in science that will serve the learner throughout his/her lifetime. Through participation in research-based science activities, students develop the skills of observing, questioning, inferring, experimenting, calculating, analyzing and evaluating. These processes expand and enhance a student’s natural curiosity about the world in which they live and enable them to gain knowledge needed to be successful in the next millennium.
It is the goal of the Newark's Office of Science Education to raise the level of science literacy by providing on-going staff development, workshops, seminars, science activity centers, laboratories, computer and library resources, and after school science clubs for district students, teachers, administrators, parents and community.
Inspire Science for PreK–5
Inspire Science for grades PreK–5 is designed to spark elementary students’ interest and empower them to ask more questions, think more critically, and generate innovative ideas. With the proven 5E instructional framework, Inspire Science provides an in-depth, collaborative, evidence based, and a project-based learning experience to place elementary science students on the path to career and college readiness.
IQWST for Grades 6–8
IQWST® (Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology), which transforms adolescents into scientists, was developed over a decade by science education, literacy, and learning science specialists from the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Michigan State University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation. Students investigate questions relevant to their lives by conducting investigations; collecting and analyzing data; developing and using models to explain phenomena, and engaging in argument from evidence, all in a literacy and discourse-rich environment.
Student 2 Science Virtual Laboratory
(V-Lab) Program
S2S in partnership with Connectivity, Inc. has developed a fully interactive web-based, multi-lingual; hybrid distance based learning (HDBL) program supporting K-12 students and teachers. S2S provides a supplementary education experience to support teachers in the classroom by way of its V-Lab Program. The V-Lab Program consists of a series of supplemental age appropriate, “hands-on” science experiments to be performed by the students in their local classroom and simultaneously at the S2S Technology Center (located at 765 Broad St, Newark - central office) by use of high speed video teleconferencing. S2S scientists demonstrate how to conduct each experiment, and describes how the scientific techniques and learning principles are used in real world business applications. S2S sends the kits, trains the teachers, and conducts a joint session by use of video conferencing. Each kit contains enough materials for the teacher to run the experiments again on their own 3-4 more times. The V-Lab provides students with access to professionals and a technology environment that are generally unavailable to them. Students may ask the instructors questions in real time as the experiment is being conducted. This interactivity enhances student retention of, and comfort with, the subject matter.