Summer School 2011

Check out what we have been working on during the 2011 version of summer school.

Science of Motion
We started with flight and lift v. gravity making paper airplanes with distance and time in flight as the goal. Then we talked buoyancy and constructed paper boats to hold as many pennies as possible. $3.89 was the record. Then we built cars for a demolition derby. Many fine eggs lost their lives that day. Finally, we summed it all up with Rube Goldberg Machines. Here are a few examples:

BUGS!!
We started down by the pond finding water bugs and beetles and nymphs of other insects while we built our classroom aquarium. Then to the grassy fields to chase dragonflies and build up our terrarium. Notables had to be Abby's GIANT water bug, Ethan's Polyphemus moth,h and the ecdysis of the cicada on the tree outside. We wrapped up with a bug scavenger hunt, but before that we had fun looking at the smallest 'bugs' like this ostracod in a microscope:

Project WILD
Project WILD is a curriculum and activity guide set up by the Council of Environmental Education. Some of the activities we did this summer included: the Thicket Game(a kind of predator/prey hide-n-seek), animals as national symbols, micro odyssey, and dilemma cards. Here are a few finds from the micro odyssey:

Here are the three dilemma cards selected by the last class:
Brodie:  You are fishing at a secluded lake and have caught 2 fish on your first day at the lake.  Now, on the second day, the fishing has been great, and you have caught 5 fish in the first hour, all of which are bigger than yesterday's fish.  The law allows you to possess 12 fish.  Would you:

• Continue to fish and keep all fish?
• Dispose of the smaller fish you caught yesterday, and keep the big ones to stay with in your limit?
• Have fish for lunch?
• Quit fishing and go for a hike?

Jon:  You are out in the woods with a friend when you spot a hawk perched on a high limb.  Before you realize what is happening, your friend shoots the hawk.  An hour later, you are leaving the woods and are approached by a state wildlife officer who tells you a hawk has been illegally shot and asks if you know anything about it.  Would you:

• Deny any knowledge of the incident?
• Admit your friend did it?
• Make up a story implicating someone else?
• Say nothing, but call the fish and wildlife officer later with an anonymous phone tip?

Jordan:  You are walking in the woods and come upon a young fawn.  There is no sign of the fawn's mother.  Would you:

• Leave the fawn where it is?
• Move the fawn to a sheltered area?
• Take the fawn home?

What would you do?