Science Spotlight

Thanks to guest bloggers Chris Roules and Adam Fusco for sharing about some cool things going on in Science this week!

Capstone Project
by Chris Roules

All who have come to the LMC in recent weeks will have found it to be very different.   Since the science department moved out of its own space, the LMC has been the primary science lab for the grade 9 and 10 students.   During the month of April, the grade 9 students are using the LMC as they complete their “Capstone Project." 

Now in its fourth year, the Capstone Project is an individual culminating activity completed by every student in grade 9 and again in grade 10. Students design and conduct their own scientific research or engineering design cycle. Grade 9 student projects need to be linked to chemistry or physics.  If conducting scientific research, the student will clearly define the problem, establish the control variables, and do hands-on experiments of how the independent variable affects the dependent variable.  If doing an engineering cycle, the student will define a problem they wish to address, and then design a physical solution for that problem.  The prototype is made, then tested and evaluated through at least five iterations. The Capstone Project incorporates hands-on aspects, which must be done at school, a journal of the student's day-to-day progress, a final presentation to their peers, and a formal written report.  There is a wide variety of fascinating projects this year, and no two are identical. You are welcome to stop by the LMC now through Wednesday, April 27^th, and see the students in action during periods 1A, 3A, 1B and 2B.  

IB Group 4 Project 
by Adam Fusco
How can I make a rocket fly higher? What happens when I get sick? These are two of many questions the Grade 11 IB students had the grade 5 students try to answer through 5 - 15 minute interactive lessons. All year, students who are taking IB have to partake in a group 4 project. There are three aims of the project, which all basically boil down to being able to work together to complete a common goal. The goal for this year was to provide an interactive science fair where each of the grade 5 students were taught a concept in five science disciplines: biology, chemistry, computer science, sports science and physics.
The group 4 project lasts a total of 10 hours which includes planning, doing and reflecting. The planning phase was a week prior to the group 4 day in which students had to come up with and design a lesson in one of the pre-chosen science disciplines stated above. The active day was held in the high school gym for the entire school day on Tuesday where students had to set up their lesson and practice, practice and practice where other groups would critique and offer feedback for improvement. After lunch all the work and preparation was then put into practice as 121 fifth graders went through the 5 – 15 minute science lessons. The last aspect of group 4 is the reflection piece where each group will develop a TED ED lesson that they can send the fifth graders for review and extension. All in all, many lessons were learned in how to break down material for young students, how to work together, and definitely a humbling perspective of what it is like to be an SAS teacher.