How to Survive: Sixth Grade Science Rotation Makes Early Release Day More Interesting
By Christy Brayton,
Media Coordinator,
North Rowan Middle
School
After the Easter egg hunt, sixth grade students
record their data in their iPads using the
Schoology app. Science teacher Amanda Werth
assists them with math.
How much food does a
cougar need to survive
a month in the wild?
What does an owl eat
every day? What sorts of
animals and non-animals
affect whether or not
an animal or a person
can survive in his or her
habitat? Every creature
in the world, including
humans, needs more
than shelter or space to
survive. They also need
food and water, and the
ability to obtain that food.
On a Friday early release
day scheduled for
Rowan-Salisbury Schools, sixth grade teachers at North Rowan Middle School
organized a rotational classroom. In an Easter egg hunt simulation in North
Rowan Middle School’s media center, sixth graders at North Rowan Middle
School were cougars, foraging for enough food to survive for the month.
They collected Easter eggs that represented food, color-coded to represent
their prey, from squirrels to deer, and what that prey provides in weight,
kilograms. They then had to record and to convert the data on their iPads.
Using the Goosechase app on their iPads, students in the Reading Garden
RSS High School Students Raise
Awareness and Funds for Breast Cancer
Rowan-Salisbury high school schools were excited to present Novant
Health Rowan Medical Center with a check for Breast Cancer in our
community. The “King of the Court” tournament was held at East
Rowan High School in the fall with a total amount of $5,477.64 raised.
West Rowan High won both the junior and senior divisions.
Lindsey Beasley is the advisor for the program.
Representatives from the Novant Health Foundation were present to
accept the check from the students at a recent Board of Education
meeting.
collected information on their iPads in a scavenger hunt designed to teach
about abiotic, nonliving, and biotic, living factors in an environment that help
or hinder survival.
In another room, students worked on dissecting owl pellets, to see what prey
owls ate to survive each day. Finally, in another room, the teachers created a
pond to show students how a pond food web connects to all living creatures
in that pond. All sixth grade teachers worked together to plan this fun lesson,
allowing students to learn about habitats and food security using Science and
Math.
Michelle Stoelting, sixth grade science teacher, said, “This teaches students
that the planet does have limits when it comes to how much resources are
available to support animals and people.”
NC sixth grade science curriculum offers many opportunities for engaging
lessons like this science rotation day. Students in sixth grade learn about
space exploration, plants and animals, ecosystems, volcanos, and the ocean.
They continue what they’ve learned in sixth, seventh and eighth grade
science to prepare them for high school’s Physical Science classes.
“An effective classroom must be engaged in order to provide students their
maximum learning capacity. It’s nice to break students out of their routines
and to give them novel approaches to understanding the curriculum,” says
Jaime Pacilio, sixth grade Science and Math teacher.
Amanda Werth, Jaime Pacilio, Michelle Stoelting, Brad Hedrick, Miranda File
and Laura Ritchie, along with media coordinator Christy Brayton, all led
groups of students in this sixth grade science learning activity. “Working
together as a sixth grade teacher team to give our students their best
learning opportunities is always our teachers’ priority,” says Amanda Werth,
math teacher.
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Parent Teacher Magazine • May/June 2017 • 5