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 >>
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 >>
Systemic Racism
Our children, our students, live in a world that has developed all kinds of media and ways to transmit information, disinformation, ideas, and images. They hear the media, adults, other peers talking about events and opinions as they move through their days. Some of these ideas are exciting and innovative, others are darker and disturbing. Read More >>
Cycles of Change
This winter, students in Kindergarten through Second Grade participated in a class on growing cycles. We started this class out by talking about our cycles in our own lives. We discussed the months of the year and did an activity where we did all the cycles in a year from the month we were Read More >>
The Seed Within
In this science class, the students read a book called “A Suitcase for Seeds.” The students were asked to make predictions about what they thought the seeds would look like, where they were located and how many there were. The students then got to analyze different fruits. We predicted what the inside of every fruit Read More >>
Sink or Float?
Students in Kindergarten through Second Grade participated in a class where they explored items that would sink or float. As scientists, they first made predictions on six different items and then tested them out one by one, recording their results as they went. As each group tried out their items, there were a few surprises – Read More >>
Chickens
The New School started housing fertilized chicken eggs on March 7th, and are watching them grown in an incubator day by day. We looked at this as a great opportunity to teach our students all about chickens. Students in Kindergarten through Second Grade have been taking a Chickens class with our student teacher, Erica, where Read More >>
Biomes – Deserts
This spring the youngest students continued their study of Biomes which was started in the fall. Most recently we turned our attention to deserts. We read and discussed books such as Why Oh Why Are Deserts Dry? and A Walk in the Desert. We watched the Magic School Bus All Dried Up video which focuses Read More >>
Rain Forest
The eleven youngest students started the year learning about the Rain Forest. New concepts and vocabulary were introduced as they listened to and discussed the content of many books on the subject. If I Ran the Rain Forest by Bonnie Worth and Rain, Rain, Rain Forest by Brenda Guiberson helped the children learn about the Read More >>
Science Celebration 2012
Each year all students present a science experiment or research study at our Science Celebration. While the older children do most of their work at home, the youngest students work on their projects at school. This year children shared what they had learned from a unit where we studied Heat. Working with one or two Read More >>