A New Space For Science

If it’s been a while since you’ve strolled the fifth-grade hallway, you may be surprised to find a classroom that’s been transformed into a dedicated science lab. 

In previous years, fourth and fifth-grade science was taught by a student’s homeroom teacher rather than a dedicated science teacher. During the 2025-2026 school year, the Lower School pivoted to teach science in a new way. Donna Hunt, who has taught fourth grade at St. Andrew’s for nearly three decades, took on a new adventure this year: teaching fourth and fifth-grade science. 

The benefits of a dedicated science lab are enormous. Not only do students get early experience understanding lab norms, but they also have space to explore, discover, and observe. “We’re focusing on respecting lab protocols,” says Hunt, “but also encouraging them to enjoy the process of what you can discover within this space.” Having a scientific space in the Lower School also opens up possibilities for younger students to be able to do the kinds of hands-on experiments they may not have been able to do in their homerooms. 

The lab setup means experiments can run over days or weeks. Fifth graders recently investigated whether plants need soil to grow, watching over several weeks how specimens responded to only water and air. In another recent experiment, fourth graders placed celery stems in colored water and, after several days, checked to see how the plant’s internal structures had changed colors. This experiment illuminated the invisible process of how plants move water from their roots to their leaves. Students have also monitored compost columns over several weeks, watching food scraps, leaves, and soil transform as decomposers do their work. In a lab, students are able to conduct the kind of patient, ongoing observation that can be challenging to manage when science happens in a homeroom with many other subjects competing for space.

It’s been an active year for our oldest Lower School scientists. In December, the science lab welcomed a special visitor: Dave Womer from Back Into Nature, which brings educational nature programs to central Texas. In addition to sharing his vast knowledge of reptiles, amphibians, and fossils, Womer brought along lots of scaly, slippery friends – tree frogs, corn snakes, a blue-tongued skink, a bearded dragon, and even a ball python! It took four fourth-graders to hold Monty, the five-foot-long python.

Another exciting aspect of the new science lab model is Hunt’s collaboration with SAS Director of Experiential Learning Blake Amos. Amos works with teachers across divisions to organize experiential learning opportunities that solidify class material in a new way. This month, fourth graders will head to McKinney Roughs Nature Park, where they will read the geologic record in Central Texas rock formations and identify unknown mineral specimens. A jewel of the Texas Hill Country, McKinney Roughs serves as a convergence point for four distinct ecosystems, making it a haven for nature education.

With months of the school year still ahead, there are more experiments to run, more specimens to examine, and more scientific questions to chase down. In the lower school science lab, curiosity leads the way!