The Innovation Center is busy getting a spring makeover in preparation for our big community event: The Environment Expo on April 14th. On that day, students will present service projects, eco-films, alternative energy prototypes, solar panels, aquaponics, compost, rain collection efforts and MORE! Stay tuned for more information! Thank you to Treva Horwitz, our Innovation Center angel.
Sixth Grade Science and Engineering
Now that students have a strong understanding of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and energy and the environment, we can synthesize all of our learning and apply it to one of the most pressing problems this generation will face in their lifetime: global climate change. Using a scientific approach, our students are learning ways to limit the magnitude of climate change and its impacts by taking on the essential role of informing their communities and catalyzing change. Teams are working together to plan and carry out service projects designed to address some of the important impacts of climate change and document their efforts on film.
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7th Grade Science and Engineering
After our study of evolution and adaptions, students in life science have spent the last few weeks immersed in comparative anatomy. We focused specifically on the incredible diversity of the animal kingdom and how it is subdivided into smaller groups on the basis of shared characteristics and levels of relatedness. Our dissections of these animals revealed an array of body plans and structures, and all levels of complexity.
This week we moved on to our unit on human anatomy. We begin with the skeletal and muscular systems. The students will focus on the physics of the system and apply their understanding by building a prosthetic limb.
Last week in STEM class, students presented their alternative energy prototypes.
Currently, the energy experts are working together in engineering teams to develop solutions for industries who are reliant on fossil fuels. The teams will present their sales pitches on Monday. Moving forward students will investigate the life cycles of engineered products and how they impact the environment. They will use a basic life cycle assessment method that assigns fictional numerical values for different steps in the life cycle. Finally, they use their analyses to compare the impacts of their products to other products, and suggest ways to reduce environmental impact based on their analyses.
Sixth Grade Math
This month we jumped forward a bit and tackled Chapter 11: Integers, Graphs, and Functions. When we return from spring break, we will dive into Chapter 8: Geometric Relationships.