By Kandice Kimmel, Latin & History, 5th-8th Grade

Project-based learning involves students learning, designing, developing, constructing hands-on solutions to a problem.

Can you think of a better way to wrap up a Thirteen Colonies study than having your students build a Colonial village? The fifth grade students researched daily life of Colonial Americans and the occupations needed for survival and growth during Colonial times. Daily life looked much different without indoor plumbing and electricity, not to mention restaurants, movies, or grocery stores!

The fifth grade students researched, built, stocked their station with items from the time period, and shared their knowledge with all of our the preschool, Kindergarten, and lower school students. Every stop in the village provided a presentation, demonstration, and an interactive activity for the younger students to role play and learn by doing. This years Colonial Village included an apothecary, candle making shop, cobbler, general store, farm with farm house and kitchen, and a blacksmith shop.

According to Merriam-Webster, refraction is a deflection from a straight path undergone by a light ray or energy wave in passing obliquely from one medium (such as air) into another (such as glass) in which its velocity is different.

During a lab, students were able to see for themselves a phenonemon that makes an object seem to disappear, but it reality, it is just an effect of refraction. Students were to view the object placed under the empty cup first, then water was poured into the cup (that’s when the object “disappeared”) and suddenly the object “disappeared.” This was due to the scientific principle of refraction.

The root of refraction is seen in the notion that the path of a ray of light or wave of energy is "broken" when it is deflected or turned. The effects of refraction can be seen in a rainbow, which is formed when light rays passing into (and reflecting out of) water droplets are bent at different angles depending on their color, so that the light separates into bands of color. The amount of refraction depends on the angle and the type of matter; refraction can occur even when passing through different kinds of air. A mirage, such as you might see in the desert or over a patch of asphalt in the summer, occurs when light passing through warm air meets the very hot air near the surface; reflecting the sky, it often resembles a lake.

“Every person can make a difference, and every person should try.” -John F. Kennedy

Middle school students made a visit to Cornerstone Retirement Center on December 10, 2024. Students sang Candlelight songs celebrating the Advent season. Both the residents and students enjoyed the time hearing and singing the songs.

Our wonderful middle school students have done it again! The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders came together to pull off another successful pumpkin patch experience for our very own preschoolers. The event kicked off with the 7th and 8th grade students reading to them the stories they created, all the while dressed as one of the characters from their story. Then, they taught them all about the life cycle of pumpkins with a song and illustrations they had made. Next, our 5th and 6th graders hosted them for some fun carnival-style games in the open field next to the patch. Lastly, before hopping onto the trailer for a hayride, the preschoolers were able to pick their very own pumpkins from the patch to take with them. Our middle school students were involved with this project from start to finish. There was responsibility and teamwork that went into planting and caring for the pumpkins. Overall, their efforts made the event even more special for the preschoolers. Kudos to them all!

Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion at a constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force"

This property of resistance to change in motion is called INERTIA. In order to demonstrate inertia, students conducted an experiment using a jar, pennies, and an index card. The coin wants to remain at rest because it has inertia. If you try to slowly pull the card away, you can not overcome that force and the coin will remain on the card. If you pull the card away quickly, the coin will stay in one place for a split nanosecond before gravity takes over and the coin falls into the cup.