Kindergarten students are studying frogs. They have a terrarium where small frogs are being
raised while the students learn the life cycle of frogs. Ms. Catherine Dunn, kindergarten, first grade
teacher says, “The children like not only watching the frogs but also enjoy drawing pictures or coloring
pictures of the life cycle of frogs.â€
The second and third grade class is studying bugs as part of a science project this year.
Fortunately the students have to go outside to study bugs, what they look like, where they live, and
what they eat Ms. Natalie Kingrey, second and third grade teacher has used the study of bugs before in
learning the life cycle of butterflies and moths.
Ms. Becky Anderson, fourth and fifth grade teacher did an environmental activity using sand.
Objects like shells, feathers, trash, rocks and roots of plants were hidden in the sand and 4th and 5th
grade students first went on a scavenger hunt to find the objects then developed a classification chart
for the items they found and discussed how those items would have a positive or negative impact on a
beach environment. Jenna Smith fifth grader said,†I had a good time being with my friends and going
outside.â€
Mr. Matthew Wells’ 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are learning all about plate tectonics by building
their own volcanoes, painting them and making them erupt by using baking soda and vinegar. The
students use this project to learn how new land is made and the earth’s geological history.
All of the hands on projects that the Charter School utilizes to teach the students relate to
information that will be seen in the future on Benchmark tests. By having these projects learning is
interesting and fun for the students.
