This week students in Project class started looking at the wide variety of plants and how they're used in our culture. Students dissected and studied the roots, stems and leaves of common vegetables in their most natural states - soil and rocks included.
Ongoing "Driving Questions" for our study of plants ...
- What are the parts of the plant?
- How do these parts work together?
Other questions answered by students these last two weeks...
How are the roots important to the plant's system?
Students dissecting plants, then worked in teams to research and prepare a visual presentation of their findings. Teams presented their findings to an audience of the other students.
Students visited Aveson's library with the idea of determining what the ideal library should look like. Students worked independently or in pairs to brainstorm lists of ideas focusing on what types of resources would be necessary, including which resources are already available and how to obtain those which are not. Next day students formed small design teams to make blueprints of the ideal library. The members of the design teams learned how to compromise, negotiate and cooperate in order to develop one design plan. Design teams then presented their plans to, and fielded questions from other students. Students voted on the best plan and presentation and we now have three final plans - one for each clan. We still need to have the design teams present to the appropriate action team to make parts of these designs reality.
What are the differences between Native American peoples?
Students researched differences in the ways Native Americans related to varying environments and resources. Students used informational text, internet and folktales to develop an understanding - some students are preforming skits to demonstrate their learning. This week we will have a hands on study of artifacts from California's Native American Chumash culture.
How do you sketch a tree accurately?
A nice way to end the week. On Friday students spent time outside making sketches of the different trees at Aveson. This week we will use these sketches to complete more artistic representations using colored pencil on a dark background.
