Hey all! Hope you are having a spectacular holiday week with your families! Apologies for the recent lapse in blog-frequency.
The MS has been super busy these past few weeks in Science & Engineering. Our rhythm and routine were slightly jostled by the 1-2 punch of the Variety Show and Art Auction, but recently we have been back at it and focused on neuroscience content while also refining our lab technique and protocol.
The kids have been exploring the structure and function of the central and peripheral nervous systems. We've covered neurons, nerves, and the layout of the human brain. This has meant a great deal of new terminology, which we will certainly revisit after the break.
Simultaneously, our crew have been developing new lab experiments from scratch - kind of a miniaturized "science fair". They were tasked (either in partnerships or solo) with creating a neuroscience-related question and hypothesis, and then forming a procedure to test that hypothesis. This resulted in some fascinating experiments, which they carried out with the help of staff and students at DGS. Their observations allowed them to generate conclusions which were shared with their peers before the break.
Testing variables like this, as well as working within scientific methods and protocols to interact with their peers helps immeasurably in their understanding of empirical research. They did a terrific job.
Over the next few weeks before winter break, we will be concluding our unit on neuroscience, and shifting to a super-fun physics-based project called "Ship the Chip". This will see them learning about impulse and collisions while developing a mail-safe package to protect a single potato chip from cracking as it travels through the USPS.
Crucially, we will also finalize our science fair experiment hypotheses and procedures, so that they will be able to begin experimenting either during winter break or immediately thereafter.
Wishing you all the best as we enter this jolly (and frenetic) time!
