Session 4, Week 1
The energy and chemistry were high as we returned for Session 4! It is so fun to listen to the laughter and watch heroes hug one another after a break. All three studios continued that laughter and joy as they began exploring our session question “Because it’s fun to do hard things… but why?” while diving into different sciences.
In the Spark Studio we are exploring many different types of science. As the heroes explore new works throughout the studio, they are digging deeper and thinking like a scientist. They are asking: What do I observe? What hypothesis do I have? What did I learn from this experiment? How can I do that differently? This invites conversation with vocabulary words like volume, fluid, solid, gas, circuit, balance, lever, reaction, measurement, and many more. Heroes are pausing at the beginning of a challenge to observe and are sharing their results after conducting the experiment.
We started learning a new song about how the understanding of the universe has evolved because scientists keep investigating things they are curious about. We learned the story of the constellation Orion and most of the heroes were eager to start the work cycle writing their own constellation story.
After learning about the constellation Orion, heroes planned a rocketship ride to space. They all hopped aboard the “ship” and counted down to blast off. After seeing the constellation they visited the Milky Way and even saw a few aliens. Control Center helped them land back on Earth when their mission was over.
Back on earth, Hannah and Nina were enjoying a meal at a “restaurant” and chatted about how impressed they have been by the heroes so far this session. They appreciated how this large group of heroes collaborated to create an elaborate restaurant by moving furniture to create the space, writing up menus, and taking on the roles of hostesses, waitresses, and cooks as they “cooked” custom orders.
This session we are focusing a lot on why we feel proud of things, and why it’s fun to do hard things. CHOICE work cycles were launched with the main focus to have an internal barometer sensing why they are proud of their work and they created many things they felt were excellent.
This week Shay started coming in for music theater, and the heroes really enjoyed experimenting with activities that help them sing from their bellies, and use their bodies to express what they hear in the music.
Some fire studio heroes created a club about learning how to survive things like a lion attack. The desire to create a project about it, evolved into a skit being performed for the Spark Studio during lunch, and they are hoping to make it a regular thing.
In the Fire Studio
A new session in the Fire Studio began with…FIRE! Council members crafted a speech and a warm, colorful fire to welcome two incoming heroes. We love to see our studio grow as each hero adds their unique strengths and personality to the tribe.
A new session means new squads, and a new year brought new Running Partners. Heroes solved puzzles to find their new partners and squad members, and then completed challenges and games together.
Heroes continued working toward their core skill and Heroic Habit goals in the morning, as well as learning about The Sun King, Louix XIV of France, in Civilization, starting a new Musical Theater production guided by the Middle School, and experimenting with chalk blending in Art.
We also began an exciting new Quest…The Story of Energy! We will be traveling through time exploring how our planets energy has been used, is now being used and options for how we can use it in the future. This week we began back at the beginning, with the formation of planets, and explored electromagnetism, and gravity.
The heroes discovered that temperature has an effect on magnetism, and the earth’s atmosphere is protected from solar winds by the earth’s magnetosphere.
We also discovered that with just the right amount of water heroes could stand soda cans on their bottom edge.
On Wednesday we experimented with Photosynthesis & Respiration. Through experiments, songs and reading we explored photosynthesis and it’s importance in the transfer of energy to us humans.
Before beginning our experiments we are documenting our predictions. During experimentation we collect data. At the end of the day we record what we learned in our Field Journals. Our Field Journals will be a critical part of the exhibition!
But don’t worry, with all the newness, some things still carried over from last session/year…
In the Middle School we are stepping it up in the new year! The guides are listening to the feedback from the Middle Schoolers and are making suggested changes. The heroes are stepping up their discussion engagement, their focus during Core Skills and their kindness to one another. We practiced “jumping into one another’s shoes,” and created a new MS tradition of verbal character callouts on Thursday afternoons. We are all stepping up because “It is fun to do hard things!”
After two quests in a row involving a lot of reading and computer work, the middle school heroes are excited to get hands-on with chemistry this session. They’ll be completing weekly labs that cover the basics and exploring more open-ended projects at the end of each week. Some are reading mystery books featuring a chemically savvy sleuth, others are learning the history of the periodic table and the discovery of various elements and compounds. You are all invited to an epic science show that they’ll be putting on for their guests at the exhibition!
Scientists do a lot of hard work. Thinking, reading, hypothesizing, experimenting, writing and thinking again. And yet, they seem to enjoy it. CHOICE heroes are the same way. They work hard… and they enjoy it! The youngest heroes may not even realize how hard they are working because their work is so much fun. The older heroes are continually expanding their ability to work hard and are learning more and more why it’s fun to do hard things!