Students have been busy in science class, are having good discussions, and performing engaging activities to help them visualize concepts. This is part of the ongoing standards shift in NYS where the lecture style is being replaced with students leading their own discoveries under the facilitation of their teacher.
7th-grade science students are learning to think like engineers in their current MRE unit, determining criteria and constraints for a new MRE heater build. They recently spent a few class periods collecting data on four different chemical reactions to see which would be most successful in reaching the target temperature while being cost-effective. Thinking of how people have recently experienced natural disasters and are potentially lacking electricity has been inspiring them in their pursuit of a more efficient flameless heater.
Earth and space science students wrapped up their space units, where they learned about how stars generate energy and how Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion explain the behaviors of orbiting celestial objects. They finished up presenting their projects on the benefits and drawbacks of asteroid mining, mainly discussing if the resources available are worth the cost/ethical implications. Considering the need for resources versus the human impact is an ongoing theme for this year, and important for students to consider in general.
