-

|

Experimental Design

At the beginning of the year, we started a unit on Experimental Design.  Students had to “Save Fred” a gummy worm from drowning by only using paper clips.  Students had to write down their procedure and then decide if they had done the procedure in the best way possible. They compared with peers and discussed Read More >>

|

Static Electricity

Electricity  This fall, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh graders have been learning about static electricity, atom components, and electromagnetism. We started the unit by exploring the impact that electricity has on our lives. Students took a scavenger hunt around the school to develop a collective list about items that use electricity. Then, students created Read More >>

|

Paper Airplanes

This winter, the five older students in grades 7-8 participated in a unit on engineering a better paper airplane. First they had to choose three different types of planes to make (they couldn’t all be based on the basic dart) and then decide what constraints they would put on making the planes. As they searched Read More >>

|

Layers of the Earth

We began our layers of the Earth class by asking ourselves, “How many layers of the Earth are there?”. That is when everyone learned that there are four layers of, and that it is impossible to dig all the way down to the center of the Earth. We did many hands-on experiments with this class. Read More >>

|

Density and Viscosity

Density and Viscosity This fall, the five seventh and eighth graders have been exploring the similarities and differences between density and viscosity. We started by defining the terms: demonstrate, model, interpret, density, viscosity and environment and then watched a video on determining the different densities of oil, water and syrup. Students asked ten questions of Read More >>

|

Plant Class

Over the winter, we have been working in depth with plants. Topics included In class, we grew a bean plant from seed in dirt and a potato plant from a potato using water initially. We have recently planted the potato plant and its roots into a soil bag and will look for potatoes at the Read More >>

|

Inventions

In January 2023 we started an Invention unit, inspired in part by the many inventions we learned about during our study of the Industrial Revolution. We started this unit by watching a few videos. Bill Nye always offers interesting and humorous videos on science topics. Then we watched videos that documented two recent real world Read More >>

|

Caterpillars, Butterflies, Moths and Bees

We completed a unit study at the start of school on The Life Cycle of the Butterfly and Moth. Children learned about eggs, caterpillars, their metamorphosis within a cocoon or chrysalis, and their eventual emergence as a butterfly or moth. We were able to watch the life cycle play out with four Monarch caterpillars that Read More >>

|

Animal Classification Spring 2022

This year was the continuation of an animal class that had begun 2 years ago. Many of the activities of the class continued through this year.  However, we had several new students join us and our group size became 11 children.  We continued to read books and have discussions on Wednesday mornings at snack.  As Read More >>

|

Lego Class

In Lego class 2nd graders used Legos to learn about simple and powered machines using hands-on activities. First, they investigated structures and forces, incorporating both rigid and flexible shapes in building deck chairs and drawbridges.Applying principles they learned about levers, they made drumming machines. Attaching a motor provided more opportunities to explore. For example, the students Read More >>