At their spring in-service day, the Lower School teachers spent the afternoon in the basement spaces of the Commons. They were given the opportunity and time to create with the equipment provided, including the wood and power tools, CNC router machine, materials in the Project Space, and soil and seeds...
Last week, some of our Middle School students were introduced to specific lessons which featured movement as the means by which they demonstrated their learning and understanding. Anne Wilcox, Harley parent and Ssnior lecturer in the Program of Dance and Movement (Dance 296– Art of Teaching K-12) at the University...
Mr. O’Bryan’s Math Topics class finished their game and took it to the Second Grade to test out. The students had a great time playing it and offered good feedback to the Upper School students… To see the original post from the start of this project, please click here.
On Friday, February 27th, the entire Eighth Grade class trekked to Mendon Ponds Park to test their friction-defying sleds they constructed during their engineering and physics unit in science. The students were charged with the task of designing and building a snow sled that would experience the lowest force of...
Design Thinking process with Math Topics class–by Seth O’Bryan The Math Topics class, an elective course in the upper school, has been building a math board game for lower school students in the workshop. The project began with the goal of creating a game to help students learn math. With...
This update is from Lindsay Cray, our 5th and 6th grade science teacher. The students are currently in the middle of a unit of study on natural disasters! Natural Disasters: Earthquake Safety Design Nature creates, nature destroys. Communities around the world are faced with natural hazards-extreme environmental events. Of these...
As part of their study of physics, eighth grade scientists began a new engineering challenge with a goal of designing and building a snow sled that would experience the lowest force of friction. To kick-start the project, students brainstormed a list of ideas related to the challenge. From that list,...
As part of a presentation to the all-school Curriculum Committee, members of the unofficial IDEA (Inquiry Driven Exploration Approach) group shared some of the exciting and curricular-connected projects that have been happening in and out of the Commons. Each of the sub-groups that were formed at the Commons retreat last...
The 3A and 3B classrooms went off the grid this week as the culminating event in their study of electricity, circuits, and solar power. What started as an inquiry-based project on alternative sources of energy grew into a fantastic, authentic challenge to utilize solar energy to power individual desk lamps...
As part of their unit studying simple machines, the Third Grade made good use of the Project Space to set up various tests to lift loads with different sizes of pulleys. With the help of Leader In Residence, Ja’Daiza Johnson, the entire class was able to choose several pulleys to...
