If you were to visit Beasley Lower School last week, you would have thought you walked right into a snow blizzard filled with learning! Why? Because our Junior Kindergarteners through fourth-grade students participated in the second cross-curricular thematic week of the year: Winter Wonderland! February 13-17, Lower Schoolers learned about all things winter while nicely incorporating science, math, and physical education.
“All of Beasley loved the fall’s Pumpkin Week so much that we knew we had to create another special thematic week to further enhance community building in Lower School while connecting many subjects,” shared Laura Pupillo, Lower School Science Teacher. “February seemed like the perfect opportunity to freeze our current studies and add in some time to study the phenomena of winter. Although last week felt more like an early spring week, Lower Schoolers had oodles of fun learning and exploring typical winter conditions.” Students learned about the science of snow, created their own artificial snow, built and dissolved snowmen, and explored ice. They engineered winter climates, explored how animals stay warm in polar environments, and even grew their own crystals.
The math part of the unit with Diane Broberg, JK-12 Math Department Chair, focused on symmetry, both line symmetry in Senior Kindergarten through second grade and radial symmetry in third and fourth grade. Students created symmetric figures using Geoboards in grades SK-2 and made snowflakes with Keva Planks in grades 3-4. Additionally, every student in SK-4th grade estimated the number of snowflakes in the snow globe in the cafeteria. The second graders then had to count the number of snowflakes. The 3rd graders created a dot plot with all of the guesses. At the final assembly culminating Winter Wonderland Week, the actual number of snowflakes was revealed: 959! The closest estimation was 956.
P.E. class was nothing short of a gale of fun with Lower School Physical Education Teachers Jim Lohr and Sue Orlando. For their winter-themed challenges and active games, students enjoyed a “snowball fight” by throwing and catching white plastic grocery bags. They built snowmen on the floor of the South Gym using P.E. equipment (hula hoops, cones, frisbees, balls, etc.), they ice skated on the carpet, and they built snow forts with hula hoops. What more could you want for a wintery week in physical education class!
On Thursday, February 16, all Beasley students gathered for a presentation by local FOX 2 News Meteorologist Chris Higgins. Higgins helped Lower Schoolers understand weather concepts and enjoyed explaining how meteorologists are like doctors for the atmosphere. He talked about what weather is and called on students to share different types of weather like rain, snow, sleet, and hail. He shared that a meteorologist is a person who uses their knowledge of weather to determine what the weather will do in the hours, days, and weeks ahead. Students learned about weather sensors and instruments such as anemometers which measure wind speed; barometers which measure air pressure; and hygrometers which measure humidity. They found out that weather balloons can rise to 100,000 feet to gather weather-related data well above the ground. Finishing out his presentation, Higgins talked about satellites and taught students how to read radar.
To bring all of the winter lessons together at the end of the week, students enjoyed a special assembly that was packed with hands-on science demonstrations connected to what they had been exploring. Pupillo and JK-12 Science Department Chair Paul Zahller showcased ice block cutting, an ice collection contest, can crushing, a dry ice crystal ball, flash freezing, a frozen oobleck, and even Ram crystals! Students were constantly cheering as the experiments crystalized before their eyes. It was also at this culminating assembly that Broberg and some Lower School students revealed the total number of snowflakes in the cafeteria snowglobe. And to add to the cheer, Lower School Music Teacher Katy Nichols led the students in singing Here Comes the Snow and I Love the Mountains in Winter.
Check out the fun in this video of the week by Lower School Coordinator of Instructional Technology Greg Stevens and the many Beasley students!
We can’t wait to sled into more wisdom from exciting, cross-curricular lessons in the seasons ahead! Thank you to all of the teachers who made this winter week full of wonder!