Leatherback Sea Turtles: An Essay by BCS 2nd Grader Nathan Becker

As part of a project-based learning unit focused on the threats faced by Leatherback Sea Turtles, second graders used the design-thinking process to develop innovative solutions for keeping the turtles safe. Students presented their creative prototypes to peers and parents, and Ms. Tomasetti's student, Nathan Becker, shared this well-written and thoroughly researched essay about what he had learned. 

The Leatherback turtle has survived for more than one hundred million years, but it is now facing extinction. The leatherback’s scientific name is dermochelys coriacea. That means wide-ranging marine turtle with flexible leathery carapace.

The global population for this species was estimated to be 115,000 adult females in 1982. By 1996, this had been revised down to about 30-40,000 Leatherback populations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have dropped a lot in the past forty years. For example, the nesting colony in Terengganu, Malaysia went from more than 3,000 females in 1968, to 20 in 1993, to 2 later in 1993. There are no signs of recovery. 

Leatherbacks have been recorded as far north as Alaska, and as far south as Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. The Pacific Ocean may now have as few as 2,300 adult females.

However, not all Leatherback populations have declined. In southern Africa, three decades of strong protection have increased the small annual nesting populations more than four times.

Leatherbacks have survived for a long time but they are dying out and soon they may become extinct. In the Pacific and Indian Ocean, the Leatherbacks populations are getting smaller and smaller. But, not all Leatherback populations are shrinking. In some places people are protecting them.

BCS Middle School 8th Grade “Design Challenge” Intersession

Imagine an environmentally sustainable school that includes a roof top garden where crops are harvested for school lunch, a grey water system to flush toilets, and solar panels that harness the sun’s energy for electricity. Picture buildings with expansive windows that invite in an abundance of natural light, moveable walls to create multi-purpose educational spaces, interactive furniture that encourages high energy students to focus, and ramps leading to every classroom to accommodate students and staff with disabilities.

You would expect this utopian learning environment to be the work of an experienced architectural design firm, but these are the innovative features Bullis Charter School eighth graders incorporated into their school designs during their recently completed “Design Challenge” Intersession. For three weeks,
students worked in small groups to develop comprehensive “School of the Future” designs. They were instructed to use green design elements, to incorporate educational philosophy, and to leverage community connections. Students interviewed various
experts in the fields of architecture, interior design, and education, and visited a zero-waste home in Palo Alto. Upon the completion of the Intersession, these same experts sat on a panel to hear the students’ presentations, look over their models, provide constructive feedback, and select the most innovative school design. The winning group will submit their digital designs, laser-cut models, presentations, and essays about their design to a competition called SchoolsNEXT, run by the Association for Learning Environments. Last year, the winning BCS team advanced all the way to the final round of this international competition.


"Eighth graders are at an age when they are forming strong opinions about how society should function," says eighth grade teacher Rebecca Witmer. "Creating the ideal school engages them because they enjoy critically examining school, breaking down institutions as they currently know them, and designing a place where they want to spend their time."


This year, the students were tasked with the special focus to create a campus that would meet the needs of underserved students, who make up one in five children in our larger community. The students mapped out areas of poverty in the Bay Area and studied struggling school districts. Students discovered that not everyone learns in the same way and that some students have different needs, whether physical or mental. Empathy-building is a critical element in the design thinking process, and conducting this research opened the students’ eyes to different learning styles as well as to the experiences of others.

The Design Challenge Intersession supports the development of 21st century skills, including critical thinking, creativity, time management and perseverance. Students are challenged to work collaboratively in groups and produce concrete results in a short time frame. When they
enter the classroom or the Fablab, they know what they need to do and on which aspect of their project they need to focus. The students conquered a variety of real world challenges, such as technical difficulties, and yet every group met the tight deadline. BCS eighth grader, Kat, learned something powerful about her own capabilities, “It really is possible to get this done in three weeks and it was amazing to see it all come together in the end.”

Art Education Month--BCS K-5 Art Showcase

March is Arts Education Month and as a STEAM school (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), BCS incorporates the arts into its curriculum, every month of the year. But, to honor this special month, we are excited to showcase the amazing artistic talents of Bullis Charter students.

Kindergarten Imagination

Kindergarten students used their imaginations to create paintings in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. They began their art lesson by reading aloud Harriet Ziefert’s Lunchtime for a Purple Snake and reviewing how to mix secondary colors. Before they began painting, Ms. Felder reminded her students that imagination is the best tool they have to create artwork and this gave them the freedom to paint whatever they wanted.

Third Grade Extreme Weather

After discussing artist Winslow Homer and his weather-focused artwork, BCS third graders worked with groups to create artwork depicting extreme weather conditions, the focus of their current PBL unit.

First Grade Biomimicry PBL and Art

Collaborating across subject matters, first grade students incorporated their artistic talents into their biomimicry PBL.  One student created a scientific drawing by observing an animal’s jawbone in real life and another student created a still life drawing of the biomimicry PBL prototype he created in the MakerSpace.

Advanced Studio Art Projects

In BCS Advanced Studio Art, students created and decorated face masks that are so professional, they should have their own display in an art museum!

3rd Grade Self-Portraits

Third graders worked on their art FLGs by creating self-portraits and writing reflections.

Kindergarten Self-Portraits




Using mirrors to examine their reflections, kindergarten students created self-portraits. The students were taught to use accurate proportions and the correct placement of facial features. They also read Katie Kissinger’s All the Colors We Are, which explains scientifically why people have different skin colors, and they were encouraged to color their self-portraits accurately with crayons.  The self-portraits and a paragraph about themselves will be included in the "All About the Artist" page of the students’ year-long Kindergarten Art Books.

Bullis Charter Middle School Intersessions

Intersessions are one of the most unique tenets of the BCS middle school program. During these three-week sessions, students move beyond the classroom and engage in active learning in the real world. Students develop real life skills as they work through problems, helping them to become well-rounded students with the 21st century abilities needed to be successful in university and in the modern workplace.

For three weeks each trimester, the daily schedule is suspended while students engage in an extended inquiry process of an assigned focus area. Projects are organized around a driving question, requiring students to investigate, collaborate, design, and construct actual solutions to real-life problems. 21st century skills are more than academic, and hands-on Intersessions provide students the opportunity to practice and refine important ‘life’ skills such as empathy, creativity, rationality, determination, and resourcefulness.

The first seventh grade Intersession combines sewing, cooking, and woodworking. While not typical middle school content, these pursuits integrate math, design, problem solving, and fine motor skills.  “At BCS, we expose all, not just some, of our students to the arts, to making, to taking risks, and to trying things that they might not attempt to learn on their own,” explains Lisa Stone, a BCS seventh grade teacher.

In the second seventh grade Intersession, students tackle Engineering & Design in the school’s

FabLab, where they have access to a variety of technology and tools including 3D printers, laser cutters, design programs, power drills and more. As part of this intersession, students interview staff members and peers to learn more about real problems found in the school. They then choose which issue they want to work on and begin to devise solutions for this problem.  Solving a problem at this level encourages students to use their critical thinking skills and to continuously plan and reevaluate, as they tackle different issues that arise along way. For example, one group of students was tasked with how to transport rolling backpacks across wood chips. As a solution, the students designed and built a “backpack gondola.” These projects are what Intersessions are all about: finding solutions and working through problems, just as one does in real life.

For their third and final Intersession, seventh graders are asked to stage a 100% student-led performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In addition to learning Shakespearean history and dialogue while performing the play, the students serve as the directors, casting crew, and light and sound engineers. They also build upon their previous Intersessions by sewing the costumes and designing and constructing the sets. Teachers are on-hand as advisors only and are part of the audience when the students perform their production on a professional stage at the Bus Barn Theater in Los Altos.

“Intersessions reinforce the students’ full year studies”, explains Ms. Stone. “At BCS, we focus on the interconnectedness of subject matter and integration. Even though students aren't going to their "regular classes" during this time, they can see that there are components of math, writing, and science in constructing a device to solve a problem. Intersessions help students understand the interconnectedness between the subjects.”

In addition to reinforcing regular studies, Intersessions extend the learning of skills and concepts through authentic, real-world applications.  For example, seventh graders learn composition in weekly music classes and are then required to score The Midsummer Night’s Dream production during Intersession.  Eight graders learn coding as part of the core curriculum and then apply those skills when designing educational apps at Intersession.  Students are encouraged to consult with industry experts as they seek to refine and improve their outcomes, and these same experts often provide feedback at the end of a project.

Intersessions are a critical part of the BCS curriculum. They offer the middle school students the opportunity to gain exposure, interact with experts and audiences, and be accountable for their ideas and projects. 



BCS Founding Principal/Superintendent Wanny Hersey explains the thinking behind these authentic learning opportunities, “We believe that in creating connections, relevance and meaning are discovered, and the rate of retention improves dramatically. Our students are empowered to design and lead their own education, thereby developing adult leaders with the ability to thrive in an ever-changing world.”

1st Grade Biomimicry PBL Unit

BCS first graders are engaged in a new biomimicry PBL unit where they are creating solutions to the driving question: “How can we use what we know about how animals and plants protect themselves to safeguard a human baby or child?”

To help formulate a solution to this question, the students first investigated the different features plants and animals use as protection against hostile elements. They dissected the bulb of an iris flower to examine its function in the plant’s survival and they explored various animal adaptations including camouflage, quills, smells, and more.

A pregnant teacher also spoke to the students about how the body is designed to protect an unborn baby and the first graders had a thought-provoking discussion about what parents can do to keep a baby safe once it is born.

Incorporating what they learned about plants and animals, the first graders then applied their design thinking skills to the driving question, and engaged their critical thinking and problem solving skills to create solutions for this real world scenario. They researched different ways a human baby or child can be injured: falling, choking, being exposed to cold, having damage to a baby’s soft spot, etc. Each student then presented ideas for how to prevent these injuries and keep the child safe.

In the makerspace, the students developed designs to protect a child from one of the identified risks, incorporating two animal adaptations they previously researched. The students sketched out one of their ideas, and made a prototype of their design. They presented their models to their teachers and peers, analyzing which aspects of the prototype worked or didn’t work. Meeting Common Core criteria, they also labeled the function of the different parts of their creations. 
   
The students have been very active uploading pictures of their completed work to Freshgrade so their parents can follow their progress and learn more about how they are succeeding on personal FLGs such as working well with others, communicating with team members, and/or collaborating on investigations.

PBL units, such as this one, provide BCS students with the skills they need for the 21st century, including creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking. PBLs allow students to be engaged actively in their learning, giving them a deeper understanding of the content and helping them to retain this knowledge longer. Most importantly, PBLs teach students initiative and responsibility, helping to build confidence and encouraging students to problem solve and collaborate more effectively.

We are so excited by the progress these first graders have made on this new PBL unit and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

7th Graders Compose Musical Motifs for "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

 

BCS 7th graders are studying the art of ‘soundtracking’ – creating music to accompany a dramatic performance. First, they created their own dramatic scenes to act out alongside pre-existing soundtracks, then they developed electronic soundtracks for Lego stop action films using GarageBand.

The class is now working on its third project, composing motifs (musical themes) for various characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  These motifs will be used to introduce characters, to serve as a character’s theme, or to acknowledge a transition between scenes. The students are creating these motifs based upon their analyses of the various characters in the play and the music they compose will directly reflect the characters’ personality, attitude, and/or actions. 




During this creative process, students are divided into small groups of varying musical ability in order to learn from each other and bring different ideas and experiences to the activity. Each group is assigned two characters from the play and tasked with creating a motif for these characters. Everyone in the
group is required to play some sort of instrument, and they may use anything that creates a musical sound.

The students are having an amazing time experimenting with sound and with various instruments.  Whether destined to become first chair in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra or the one who sings off-key in the shower, every student has the opportunity to learn about theatrical music and to contribute to the musical melodies of their upcoming performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Monday, June 6 and Tuesday, June 7. 


Scientific Discovery: Being Right or Finding the Truth?

BCS's 6th grade math and science teacher, Midori Hosobuchi, shares her students' scientific journey to discern 'finding truth' from 'being right'.

 

I recently started a new unit on density with my 6th grade science class and began the lesson with the usual hook by presenting a demonstration lab.  I asked the students to predict what would happen when I dropped two items, a candle or a steel washer, in a beaker of water.  Students worked hard and silently for about a minute, and then the questions began at rapid fire. “Is the water room temperature?” “Is the wax soluble in water?” “Will you leave the washers in long enough to form rust?” The students wanted to make sure that their predictions were specific, detailed, and, most importantly, correct.

I stopped the class. How, as a previous practicing scientist could I instill in these students the idea that a hypothesis is a tool, not a judgment or an answer?  In science, we use hypotheses to frame thinking about a problem and create a structure for an experiment, but frequently, as predictions, they fail.  How could I help the students see that there is much to be learned in the face of this type of “failure” and to not be invested personally in a concept or claim that must change as new data is obtained?

In the end, we had a great discussion about being right vs. finding the truth.  In a way, being invested in “correctness” looks backwards at knowledge produced by others. It’s much easier to memorize the “facts,” process and interpret them, and come up with what is perceived as an “answer.” Far more difficult is the mind shift required to look at old knowledge as a ladder to finding a novel truth, which then may subsequently require adjusting our old knowledge. 

Although our experiment with the candle and the beaker of water will not bring earth-shattering or life-saving discoveries, if I can help students feel comfortable with the idea that finding new truths may mean discarding previous ideas in the face of new evidence, then I will have moved them one step further in their development as scientists.

Written by: Midori Hosobuchi