Science Research at OES

Beyond the classroom

OES facilitates collaborative inquiry beyond the classroom, and supports faculty and students in their exploration of unique science education initiatives. 

Recent science co-curricular opportunities include:

• Field studies at the Oregon Zoo
• Greenhouse Activity
• Environmental Citizenship Activity
• Aerospace Team (see photo below)
• Science-based Winterim courses like spelunking, studying wolves in Yellowstone Park, astrophotography, octopus exploration, and marine biology in the Florida Keys.

OES students learn science by doing science

Our science program challenges students through independent research, and provides opportunities for national and international competition. 

With guidance and support from practicing scientists and mentors, OES students explore interest-driven questions, learn to think like scientists, and deeply engage with the ever-changing world around them. In all OES science classes, the inquiry-driven approach to research develops students’ critical thinking skills. Through intentional exploration of their personal passions, students learn to do science with purpose, practice active collaboration and curiosity, and hone valuable skills and approaches to learning. 

For each project, students identify a problem, learn to ask testable questions, design and implement strategies to collect relevant information, and analyze and interpret data to form conclusions. By the time students graduate, they have completed multiple projects that tackle increasingly complicated ideas, require developmentally appropriate skills, and recursively build on each other.

“Science at OES is more than taking a class; it’s a way of using content knowledge to ask appropriate questions and to describe the natural world around us in ever-evolving ways. Students challenge the faculty every year with the impressive questions they ask in their investigations, as much as the faculty challenges students to think critically and communicate their ideas effectively. This—and I know this as both a former student and as the science expo co-director—is a program unlike any other!”—Bettina Gregg ’92, Upper School Science Teacher