The Food Chains and 1 to 1

Last week I had the opportunity to sit in on a seventh grade science class where students were examining the concepts of food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids. As I sat in the classroom, I realized that I knew what a food chain was, however, I was unclear as to what a food web or energy pyramid looked like.  After some group discussion, students drew concept maps of each on the board.

The food chain was a basic linear model that we would all understand: plants are eaten by small animals, who are eaten by animals, who are ultimatly eaten by those at the top of the food chain.

A student built on this model by noting that some animals eat each other and so a web of interconnected animals and plants was sketched out.

The final representation, that of the energy pyramid displayed the amount of energy each animal could draw from consuming the one below it.

Students captured this information on their laptops and used the build in calculators to calculate the energy consumed at each level.



I have included a screen shot of one student's notes taken during the class.

Singing in Spanish

Dear Families,

Can you name the countries in North and South America where Spanish is a major language?  This was the task set by our Spanish teacher Señora Bejar-Massey to her seventh grade class.  To begin with students watched a YouTube video of a song written and performed by Barbara MacArthur. (Please click on the link to watch the video.)

After watching the video at home and again in class, our students identified each country and practiced the correct pronunciation for each using the target language. As someone who does not speak Spanish, sitting in the room listening to the students practice speaking each country’s name and getting instant feedback from the teacher, I was instantly struck by how beneficial this from of instruction is.  An Immersion Classroom (the technical term for teaching in Spanish even though students may not understand all that is being said) has been proven to be the most effective way to learn a new language.

One other positive aspect of the activity was how students had the opportunity to share their knowledge of the different countries with their peers.  There were multiple references to events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, famous soccer matches, and countries students had visited or discussed in other classes.

Combining history, geography, and Spanish is a wonderful way to ensure that the key knowledge and skills of the lesson become deeply rooted in each student’s memory.

Regards,
Shane

 

The classical world comes to life

Two of our middle school students stepped forward this weekend and brought both their classroom learning and also their passion for fashion to life when they participated in an event sponsored by The Philadelphia Classical Society.

Both girls researched, designed, and created wedding Roman wedding dresses with influences of mythological goddess-inspired design motifs.

We applaud both students for their work and look forward to seeing their future creations in the coming years.

What's a line of best fit?

Student in Algebra I are often asked to solve equations and manipulate variable without considering with the x's and y's represent. Last week, our eighth grade had the opportunity to take their understanding of variables, coordinate geometry, and see how real-life situations can be modeled.

Each group of students used rulers to measure the length, width, and height of various wooden blocks. Once the dimensions were know, the teams calculated the volume for each block Following this, the remaining variable to be calculated was the weight of each wooden block using a balance-scales.

With these data sets, each group plotted the mass (weight) and volume on an x-y graph and this is where the fun stats.  Groups noticed that the data seemed to behave in a strangely predictable way.  The data points were spread out along a line originating at the origin.

Problem Solving

Dear Families,

I visited a math class this week and was extremely impressed with the work the students were doing. The teacher had split the class into groups of four and presented each team with a simple, open-ended problem:

"If there were a road that ran from the earth to the moon... how many liters of gas would it take to drive from the earth to the moon?"

This is a wonderful example of a real world problem. It does not give the students a predetermined plan for finding an answer, there are multiple solutions that can be correct, and it allows for creativity in not just solving the problem but in determining the parameters for the question.
One final wrinkle was that the groups were only permitted to ask five questions either of the teacher or Google.

For those interested, we will post some solutions next week (P.S. the teacher drives a Prius but you could use your own car if you like.)
Regards,
Shane 

Art Museum

As I mentioned in my last email, the Eighth Grade visited the Philadelphia Art museum as part of our outside learning component.  Below are some photos from the day.  One of my highlights was a discussion lead by Mrs. Anne Smith on the classical Greek and Roman architecture incorporated into the building and the surrounding environment.

Our first stop was at the bronze statue cast of the (original 5th c. B.C.E.) "Charioteer of Delphi" as seen below.  Mrs. Smith helped our students understand the significance of the statue, a gift from the Greek government on our country's bicentennial in 1976, and the rationale for it being presented to our city as the founding city of modern democracy.  It is a lovely example of public art in the classical style among the many contemporary art sculptures along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and City Hall vicinity.

Following this, we walked to the "Rocky Steps!" I hope you forgive a new arrival to the city referring to them as that. But in keeping with the movie, we ran up the steps and gathered at the top to view the city and admire the museum's neoclassical architecture , our own fair city's "Parthenon on the Parkway" and temple to Art.

After admiring the Etruscan, Roman and Greek architectural elements, including the ibexes, griffins and pegasoi, ionic capitals and octastyle columned facades, Mrs. Smith helped the students make connections to ancient Athens and the Parthenon, as well as Olympia, Greece, and even the Lincoln Memorial visited last year on the Washington, D.C. field trip.  Opened in 1928 and resembling a Greek temple, the Philadelphia Museum of Art not only is a world-class museum because of its collections inside, but is itself considered to be one of the showpieces of the early 20th-century "city beautiful" movement in architecture.  Of particular note are the polychrome terra-cotta sculptures in the north eastern pediment which were designed by sculptor C. Paul Jannewein.  At the time, the building was the first in 2,000 years to adapt polychromy (many brightly painted glazes as highly decorative art embellishments) like those discovered on the Temple to Zeus at Olympia and the Parthenon on the acropolis in Athens, Greece.  Mrs. Smith discussed in detail the larger than life sized terra-cotta statues, the interesting myths represented by each figurative art statue, and how Greek mythology has influenced western thought.  She shared her research on specifically why these mythological sculptures were commissioned by the museum to inspire civic pride and illustrate mankind's creative arts and symbolize the themes of human art and civilization.  I was extremely impressed with the knowledge our students had internalized during their study of ancient Rome during their seventh grade Latin studies.

After the students toured collections inside with docents in small groups and admired some fine examples of contemporary art, as I mentioned in last week's email. Thanks to our teachers for chaperoning the trip, answering all the wonderful questions our students had, and for ensuring that everyone returned safely to Shipley for pickup.

Regards,
Shane 

Why we Dress-Up

Dear Parents,

The rational for having our students dress up for certain assemblies is that there are times when we want to present our best selves and an event such as a whole-school assembly is one such occasion.  This opportunity to dress up will help our students understand that there are occasions when a shirt and tie for boys and a blouse and skirt for girls are appropriate. 

We do not ask our students to do this often, but found that last year it helped create a special environment.

I hope this is helpful 

Regards,

Shane

What is Art?

Dear Middle School Families,

"I think the restless water symbolizes the uncertainty of the events being portrayed in the picture" and “the blurry and unclear style conveyed the message of a chaotic, disruptive scene”. These were two comments from our students as we sat in the Art Museum looking at Edouard Manet's The Battle of Kearsarge and the Alabama. And this was just our second stop on our tour! 

To begin our adventure, our group was asked to consider the painting A Reading from Homer by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.  When asked to critique the work, our students commented on the composition’s structure, the use of calm color tones, the graffiti written on the top right of the picture, the pathway of the eye, the vanishing point, and the way the artist “captured the folds and textures of the cloths on the figures.” Again, I was impressed with the ability to analyze the composition using precise language and critical thinking skills.

On our third stop, our students were given the opportunity to sketch the painting.  You can see one of the sketches below. It shows the preparation and training our students have received during their art classes both in the Lower School and also during the last two years with Mr. Hanna. 

For those of you who are interested, the painting was Mount Sainte-Vinctoire by Paul Cezanne. 

After deconstructing Picasso’s Man with a Violin, we again were encouraged to draw using this style. I include two more student pieces below.

Our final pieces of art encouraged our students to answer the challenging question "What is art?" While the answers to this thought provoking question are too plentiful to share here, I will leave you with a reflection from one student:

“I really enjoyed the art museum because it was a great way to see different artists I normally would not have looked at. I remember that each artist used a different style to convey his/her thoughts.”

I look forward to witnessing our 8th grade’s growing understanding of art as they progress through their rigorous studies this year.  

Sincerely,

Shane

Dr. Shane Kinsella

Head of Middle School