Hey all!
I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. It's hard to believe that we have only 3 short weeks before winter break and the start of the new year!
Middle schoolers have been hard at "work" riding skateboards lately. Actually, one of the prerequisites for our "Skateboard Science" unit is that they DO work hard to digest the fundamental physical principles at work when they ride around. This has entailed an examination of the skateboard itself and how it utilizes 4 of the 6 "simple machines", as well as a review of Newton's 3 Laws of Motion (each of which applies directly to riding a skateboard). We have also discussed the relationship between force, work, and power, and have explored problems applying their formulas, along with thopse of velocity, acceleration, and momentum.
AFTER this work has been completed, the crew has delighted in riding their boards from home (or some from our class set). You really get a clearer sense for friction and gravitation while cruising down a hill. In celebration of the end of this unit, we are planning an afternoon field trip to Mooresville Skatepark in advance of the winter holidays.
Science Fair is also full steam ahead. Students have selected their topics and have begun conducting research and collecting sources. The next step will be the development of a procedure and hypothesis, along with the gathering of materials. Please speak with your child regarding what they anticipate needing for their experimentation period. This phase will begin over the winter holiday and will run through January to accommodate those who require a longer observation window.
I want to give a quick shout out to our past few master classes. Barry gave us a great look at his experience as part of an e-sports team. Harrison discussed his passion for Magic the Gathering. And Addie walked us through a beginner's guide to anime. It's always refreshing to learn about our students' diverse interests!
Lastly, huge kudos to everyone who participated in our DGS Variety Show. The middle schoolers worked hard and had tremendous fun developing their medley, and it was such a treat to get to see all of our kids put their talents on stage!
Have a great week!
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