Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12
Academics
Lower School

The Natural Curiosity of Children

The Lower School science program is rooted in the natural curiosity of elementary school children about the natural world. From the earliest years, students are encouraged to observe, describe, measure, record, and hypothesize.
 
The youngest record by drawing, while older students learn to take notes and form "If/then" hypotheses. Taking full advantage of a spacious Lower School science area that is rich in resources to be explored, students collaborate to experiment and learn about a wide range of topics from butterflies to magnets, tidewater pools to musical instruments, to name but a few.
 
Our local area provides ample opportunities for field trips and the school's longtime partnership with Mystic Seaport enables us to expand the horizons of the fourth and fifth graders to the ocean and its role in the history of Connecticut. By the end of sixth grade, students have been trained to observe and think like scientists and have completed foundational work that prepares them well for the rigors of a more formalized science program in the Middle School.

2023 Science Fair

Science News

List of 9 news stories.

  • Grade 5 Catapults into STEM Learning Project

    There are few things as inherently exciting as when things are flying through the air. Fifth-grade students took on that challenge as they constructed catapults in a hands-on learning project.
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  • Grade 6 Explores Hidden World of Stream and Forest Ecosystems

    Streams hide an underwater world of organisms and ecosystems in a fantastically varied web of life and sixth-grade students put on their water shoes, grabbed their nets, and spent the afternoon exploring the waters of the Mill River in East Rock State Park for a hands-on science activity. The project focused on biodiversity sampling of stream and forest ecosystems.
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  • Shoreline Exploration with Grade 4

    Sunny skies and the East Haven shoreline welcomed our fourth-graders as they explored the intertidal zone habitat at the beach home of Board of Trustees President Andrew Acquarulo and his wife Pam Acquarulo.
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  • The Imagination of Science Sparks Curious Minds

    It all starts with a question. What is this? How does this work? What is the hypothesis to the problem? Students in Grades 4-6 investigated those questions and turned them into answers as they put their scientific knowledge on display at the Lower School Science Fair.
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  • Magnetic Force Pulls Students into Classroom Presentation

    Playing with magnets is one of the earliest scientific discoveries children can unearth. Lower School science teacher Steve Jewett incorporated that “aha moment” into his classroom lesson as fifth-grade students have become immersed in the world of magnetism.
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  • Seashore Adventures with Grade 4 Students

    Calm waves and large marsh areas welcomed Grade 4 students and teachers Emily Schimelman 2002 and Caroline Shelton 2013 as they ventured out to the East Haven shoreline for a hands-on learning activity studying sea life in the open water.
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  • The 2021 In-Class Science Fair.

    In-School Science Fair Yields Impressive Results

    Where there is a hypothesis, there is a problem to be solved – and our Grade 4 science prodigies investigated their way to impressive end results with their recent science fair projects.
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  • Grade 6 students created their own filters and used them in various experiments during a water unit lesson.

    Sixth-Grade Scientists Wade Into Water Unit

    Sixth-grade students waded into deep waters – metaphorically speaking – during a recent hands-on science lesson.
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  • Hamden Hall's premier STEM Family Night featured stations of activities that creatively engaged students and their families.

    Premier STEM Night Creatively Engages Students and Families

    While some may have thought wizardry was involved in the making of Harry Potter’s wand, it was actually a simple circuit that created the magic juice – so learned families who attended Hamden Hall’s premier STEM Family Night.
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Hamden Hall Country Day School

About Us

Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.