2009-2010

K-1st grade class: Animals

This year, the youngest class will revisit one of our favorite themes, animals. They will begin by learning about how the earth was created, exploring creation myths, their own knowledge and then through acting and books, how it all came to be! From there they will move to dinosaurs, mammals, the domestication of animals and the life of animals today. Along the way they will be doing lots of observing and studying of Colorado animals, mainly the ones that live right here in the foothills and in their back yards. Stay tuned as their teacher, Gael, posts projects on the web throughout the year.

2nd-4th grade class: The Earth

We will also revisit a favorite theme, the Earth. The class will also start with a study of evolution, but focus more on how the earth itself was created, doing science experiments, reading, meeting geologists, creating art projects and having discussions. They will learn all about rocks, tectonic plates, earthquakes and volcanoes and how the earth is constantly changing. There will also be a focus on recycling…the earth recycles and how we can recycle. Since everything has a source, where does it all goes when it is used up, and what does that really mean? Stay tuned as their teacher Yelena posts projects on the web site.

5th-8th grade class: Environmental Action

The older class will be doing an in-depth study of a nearby wild life refuge: Sawhill Ponds. They will be learning everything about the habitat: how and why it was created, its history, what wildlife lives there, the impact of humans and how it compares to other ecological systems. The final project will be coming up with some way to give back to the refuge.

This class will also be studying the American Revolution (another way to look at change, as a theme, in the study of environmental action in a historical sense). They will be working together to raise money to visit Washington D.C. in April.