Here we go...
We are up and running. Our first full week at school is in the books, along with our parents' Back to School Night, and things are going smoothly! Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to make this transition back to school a smooth and positive one. We had a fun field trip on Monday to McDowell Nature Preserve with some great kayaking and team building activities.
Our Science and Engineering classes are off to a fun start. We led off with a review of classroom lab procedure, the steps of the scientific method, and a refresher of the connection between temperature and pressure.
We also looked at the 3 (well, 4 really) Laws of Thermodynamics in the context of urban "heat islands". These areas of intensely increased temperature are the result of construction practices, city planning, overcrowding, and greenhouse gas emission, and they contribute greatly to climate change worldwide. This issue serves as the inspiration for our first engineering design project - Future Cities. In this project, the students are working in small groups of 3 or 4 to design an imaginary city model which aims to mitigate the heat island effect and the effects of climate change in general. They will develop their own written reflections and present their cities to the class at the end of next week.
Please note that all assignments are disseminated through Google Classroom as well as on the board during our classes. Parents are encouraged to ask their students about their use of this portal at any time. Especially given that there is always. at least a day in between my classes, it is important that the students keep ahead of their assignments and check to remember anything they may have missed.
Thanks also to Addie for an intriguing first Masterclass of the year on the history and impact of Barbie.
Looking forward to another great week!
