4th grade

Utilizing the Orange Kits borrowed from the Academy of Sciences, the students are learning all about an important biome - our tropical Rainforests.
Following a mapping activity as to where the Rainforests are located, the students explore the various "Products of the Rainforest". They identify which part of the plant - seed, stem, leaf, root, flower - the products come from.
Chocolate, ginger, tapioca, rubber, cinnamon, palm oil, nutmeg - all are products from the Rainforests of the World.

5th grade

After going to the Transfer Station and learning about what happens to garbage and recycling, the students toured an area where the "Artist-in-Residence" worked. Students saw some very creative pieces made from items from the landfill or recycling.
They were inspired and wanted to create some of their own art.
Ms. Stamatis have the students a few days to collect material from their respective homes. Then "shopping" for parts, they had one class period to make something. Here is just a small sampling of their ingenuity.

5th grade

Flower dissections
A fun lab, students got to explore the inner parts of a flower. We hope to find seeds or eggs in the ovule. It's not easy to do. But it was great to watch them locate and identify other flower parts.

8th grade

After following instruction and using reused materials, the 8th grade constructed their own kaleidoscopes.
Kaleidoscopes were invented by Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster in 1816. Images from mirrors appear as the real objects, except left and right are reversed. A mirrored prism creates a series of reflections yielding symmetrical patterns.

8th grade

They have been studying light and learning about how light bends and reflects.
They have constructed color wheels and today they turned in their Anamorphic Art. It's a blend of math, science and art.
The normal rule for mirrors is the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. However on a curved surface, the mirror reflects the distorted image back to its normal image.

6th Grade

Wrapping up the Rock unit and getting ready to get out of the book. The students play a Rock Cycle game that has been modified from the Academy of Sciences geology lesson plans.
Students are learning over and over how the rock cycle can change and the forces that move the rock cycle through sedimentary ~ metamorphic ~ igneous...

5th grade FLOWER POWER

This part of our plants unit, to me, is really fun. Watching the students really look at flowers and take them apart with their hands is so fun. They are intrigued and really take the time to look at the intricacies of something as "simple" as a carnation or daisy or iris.
By creating a more Inquiry Based Lab the students are encouraged to explore the flowers and tape "parts" for later labeling. For today the objective was to just observe and notice and wonder....