Assorted Projects and Activities, Dec-May

During the second half of the school year, we did various activities that did not require writeups from Eric and Kyle. Below are a selection of them. 

Field Trips (science, history, art): We went to the Museum of Science, the Boston Aquarium, and the Museum of Fine Arts, where they learned ecology, conservation, biology, engineering, and were able to see artifacts from the periods covered in their History courses. We also discussed how art is affected by the culture it is created in, and how it in turn affects its culture and other cultures. We talked about representation, intention, and interpretation, and the kids named a piece of Ancient Egyptian art that was their favorite.

Cloaks (art): Each kid chose fabric and a pattern for a cloak that they wanted. Then we sewed them, which involved becoming familiar with how a commercial pattern is structured, laying out and cutting the pieces, following the pattern to put the pieces together, and learning about some finishing techniques. Kyle did about 80% of his cloak unassisted, and Eric (who had a more complex pattern) did about 60% unassisted. Both ended up with unique art/craft pieces that reflected their personalities and which they have used in daily life.

Bacteria (science): We used a bacteria kit to take samples from our environment and grow the bacteria from those samples. This involved cooking up the agar to use as a base, then Eric sampled his phone and his desk, and Kyle sampled his laptop and his finger. After a few days in a dark, warm place, you can see how well the bacteria grew. 

Vacation (ecology, engineering, history): We took a family vacation to California and visited the San Diego Safari Park, San Diego Zoo, The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. They learned about animals, their habitats, and conservation efforts at the safari park, the zoo, and the aquarium. They got a unique view of extinct fauna at the La Brea Tar Pits, as well as a look at what is involved in conserving fossils and other artifacts. And lastly, at the Golden Gate Bridge was an excellent interactive display about the history and engineering of the bridge, which Eric particularly appreciated. Below are pictures of that display.

  

            

Vocabulary: The kids worked through vocabulary lists appropriate to their grade (from vocab lists online). For words they didn't know, they looked up their definitions and included them in a sentence. Kyle knew every word on the 6th grade list, so worked on the 7th grade list.