Summary of Net Zero Commons Trial–by Seth O’Bryan Below is a table summarizing net energy use in the Commons from March 2-6, 2015. An important caveat is that this doesn’t include the energy use of the compressors, which drive the heating and cooling. The compressors are the biggest energy users...
Guest author: Cameron Yudelson For the last several weeks the students of the Living Building class have been working on a net zero energy project. The goal of this project is to conserve as much energy in the Commons. The ultimate goal is for energy use to match the amount...
Many hardy people braved the cold to attend the presentation on Raising Mindful Children, the sixth installment of the Commons Speaker Series. The discussion began with an overview and introduction to mindfulness by Siobhan LeGros, Lower School art teacher and mindfulness instructor, with several exercises to focus awareness and practice...
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...
A beautiful garden of blooming delights welcomed back the students and faculty from their snowy and frozen February break. This is the 23rd annual flower show, courtesy of retired Middle School English teacher, Barbara Willard. The bulbs started in pots in Mrs. Willard’s barn, but were then transferred to the...
On Tuesday, January 20th, the three Rochester-native producers of the climate change documentary Comfort Zone were our featured presenters in the Commons Speaker Series. The evening began with a screening of their documentary which follows the film makers, Dave Danesh, Sean Donnelly, and Kate Kressman-Kehoe, on their shared journey to...
We are excited to unveil the New and Improved (and much more user-friendly) Commons Control website! This site has been functional and has been referenced earlier in this blog (here and here), but the new website has improvements which invite data analysis, provide background on the systems, and house an...
