Math & Science

🔬📐 Math & Science: Literacy in Action through Real-World, Hands-On Learning

At MSI, Math and Science literacy goes beyond solving problems or memorizing facts. Students are empowered to become investigators, engineers, and mathematicians—reading, writing, and speaking to explore the world around them.

Modern Classrooms Project in Math

In alignment with the Modern Classrooms Project, math instruction is personalized, self-paced, and mastery-based. Literacy is embedded into this model to deepen understanding:

Literacy Component	Implementation
Reading	Students read and interpret real-world math scenarios, graphs, word problems, and data sets. Video lessons and digital content include closed-captioning and guided notes to support comprehension.
Writing	Students explain their problem-solving process through written justifications, math journals, and reflections. Sentence starters and writing scaffolds support mathematical language development.
Speaking & Listening	Peer discussions, math talks, and conferencing with teachers foster clear verbal reasoning and critique of reasoning.
Hands-On Real-World Application	Students engage in projects like budgeting, measurement challenges, or data collection and analysis tied to electives or Innovation Days. Examples include calculating drone flight trajectories or designing a budget for a culinary project.

Science as Inquiry, Evidence, and Communication

Science literacy at MSI focuses on helping students think like scientists, using reading, writing, and speaking to question, investigate, and explain:

Literacy Component	Implementation
Reading	Students engage with nonfiction texts, data charts, lab procedures, and scientific articles. They learn to annotate, summarize, and evaluate sources.
Writing	Lab reports, scientific arguments (CER format: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning), and inquiry journals are key writing formats.
Speaking & Listening	Students present hypotheses, share experiment results, and engage in collaborative problem-solving discussions during labs and group investigations.
Hands-On Real-World Application	Students conduct experiments during Specialty Courses (e.g., Drones with Coding), participate in Innovation Day challenges, and apply engineering design practices to solve real community issues. For example, creating water filters or testing sustainable energy models.

Example Cross-Disciplinary Project: “Design a Sustainable City”

Subjects: Math, Science, ELA, Social Studies
Literacy Integration:

Read: Articles and case studies on urban planning and climate change
Write: Proposals for sustainable infrastructure
Speak: Team presentations and community feedback sessions
Hands-On: Use geometry and environmental science to design models of eco-friendly buildings or transportation systems