Schechter Shavua: November 8, 2021

Science and Art Converge for Middle Schoolers

Habonim (grades 6-7) has expanded  their Science learning of Optics even further in Makerspace. (If you missed the details of Habonim’s Quest for Light and Darkness, click HERE.) In Makerspace, students have learned ways to skew optical perception and created optical illusions using different materials. Habonim's ongoing project of Infinity Rooms inspired by artist Yayoi Kusama uses light, reflection, and perception to create an experience of infinity, wrapped into a tiny shoebox. The students researched Kusama's ideas, process, and concepts of her creation of Infinity spaces, and developed their own versions of the concept. The completed infinity rooms will be on display for the students at Schechter to experience and enjoy.

Check out more cool pictures of this art/science project HERE!

Studying the Bounty of Fall

Early Childhood students in T’marim and Sh’kedim (ages 3-4) held a squash tasting party this week, an activity that ties together the fall season, the students’ interest in farm stands, and exploration. They baked and cut open four varieties of squash: butternut, delicata, acorn, and spaghetti. The children bravely taste-tested all four different squashes! They then voted on which they liked the best, writing their name on the white-board under their squash of choice…or putting their name in the box that said 'none.'
 

Artistic Representations of the Creation Story

After learning the story of creation, the students of Tsiporim and Parparim (grades K-1) had the opportunity to be a creator like God. They picked their favorite day, and, using a ripped paper technique, they created their own artistic interpretations of their choices. Their images included depictions of shabbat, the sun and moon, fish and birds, light and dark, and so much more.

Click HERE to see more beautiful creation images.

K-1 Takes Science on the Road

The Parparim and Tsiporimstudents (grades K-1) recently completed a science lesson on how animals and plants change the earth. They studied the different ways that animals, like moles, dig holes underground for shelter and transportation; this changes the way the ground works. They discovered that trees with strong roots can grow and uproot a sidewalk completely! Using homemade binoculars, the students then became scientific investigators on the hunt for different ways that plants and animals have changed the earth on our school campus and at a nearby pond. They found grass, weeds, and tree roots growing in cracks on the sidewalks, water from the stream growing over tall grasses and making them lay over, and much more. 

Click HERE to see photos of their science exploration.