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Bird Project Students studied birds to explore the concepts of form and function in nature, adaptation to environment, and the principles of flight. Project components include PBS documentaries on snowy owls, ducks and hummingbirds, Eyewitness videos on birds and flight both with follow-up comprehension sheets, individual research projects and presentations, group research project and mural, field trips, guest speaker, dissection of owl pellets, identification and mounting of small mammal bones, bird sighting groups, and small group lessons on using identification guides.		Dissecting Owl Pellets The Middle Class took a trip to Poricy Park and learned all about the way the form of beaks, claws and feathers is adapted to their function and the bird’s habitat. We were able to start the process of dissecting owl pellets and finished them at school.
Exploring Science Our exploration of science this year has included experiments with bouyancy and boat building; designing elaborate marble runs as teams; and a very fun day of Pumpkin Chunkin’ with a real trebuchet built by a dedicated New School parent. All of these projects also create opportunities to focus on mathematics, art and even writing, too.		Indian Customs As a part of our focus on this year’s theme of “Around the World” the Middle Class has been studying about India and Indian customs. We’ve learned Dandiya, a dance performed with clacking colored sticks; we made our own diyas for Diwali; and we’re creating a large mural based on our studies of the story of the Ramayana. We also enjoyed a presentation about Diwali given by some New School graduates, which included traditional holiday treats.
Marble Runs A project involving the creation of Marble Runs evolved out of Middle Class play and ultimately included not only the science of gravity, velocity and Newton’s Laws, but also design work, building, teamwork, and presenting to a group. Students developed their own marble run units and worked as teams to incorporate each unit into a larger project. The results were spectacular and fun, too! The concepts we worked on have sparked a lot of interest in working with domino runs next.		Math Students work independently on individualized math packets which include all sorts of interesting projects, like one using ‘cuisinaire’ rods to solve logic problems. But math also comes into our work as a part of all our projects. We calculated in order to build boats for Boat Day, for example, and there was a lot of math involved in our Pumpkin Chunkin’ Event!
Music Music this year has included studying the traditional music from cultures around the world. This has included listening, singing, playing instruments and a variety of activities. One favorite was playing our own version of “Who Wants to be a Musical Millionaire?”		Sequential Art We’re excited this year to be spending time with the ‘Doodle Dude’ at the Middletown Arts Center, where he’s teaching us a lot about sequential art. This project includes lessons in cartooning, creating our own comics, creating 3-D models of our own characters and much more! Back at school, we read comics and graphic novels, we use the Scratch program to learn about programing,animating and we practice our techniques in the drawing journals we created.
Spanish This year’s Spanish studies have been influenced by the “Around the World” theme. We played a traveling game, using a world map and little playing pieces that we designed. We celebrated Dia de los Muertos (Halloween) by making traditional, edible, sugar skulls and our own sand art creations. Next, we’re doing individual country projects that will include maps with geographical features noted in Spanish.