Looking Ahead to Next Year
2014- 2015 A World in Motion
The question for next year is about motion. Everything moves. Birds fly south. Seeds are carried for miles by the wind. Ships sail and rains move from ocean to plain. Even the earth itself moves, as soil erodes and plants draw from and replace the soil’s nutrients. People, too, move from place to place, city to city, nation to nation, as they pursue adventure, seek freedom, join loved ones and find new homes. So, we will often ask, “How do you move?” “Where have you come from?” “To what places or in what direction might you go next?”
In fourth & fifth grade, students study the way things move. In science, the cycles of life, the compression of rocks, the motion of waves and the shifting of oceanic plates come under close scrutiny. How did this come to pass? In what direction and to what place does this go? Can we trace the course of a growing plant, a forming rock, or the movements of ocean currents? These are the questions that shape the struggle for insight as students work to find the story behind the changing earth.
At the same time, students trace the path of people who have traveled the regions of North America. This year, students focus on the geography of New Jersey and all of North America, with an emphasis on the significance of location, human interaction with the environment, regions and movement. As students experience rural communities first hand, they become familiar with lifestyles, religion, culture and environments that are new and complex. In addition, as students tour the urban, tri-state area, the hopes, work, language and customs of diverse peoples and cultures come into view. We are people on the move.
In fourth & fifth grade, students study the way things move. In science, the cycles of life, the compression of rocks, the motion of waves and the shifting of oceanic plates come under close scrutiny. How did this come to pass? In what direction and to what place does this go? Can we trace the course of a growing plant, a forming rock, or the movements of ocean currents? These are the questions that shape the struggle for insight as students work to find the story behind the changing earth.
At the same time, students trace the path of people who have traveled the regions of North America. This year, students focus on the geography of New Jersey and all of North America, with an emphasis on the significance of location, human interaction with the environment, regions and movement. As students experience rural communities first hand, they become familiar with lifestyles, religion, culture and environments that are new and complex. In addition, as students tour the urban, tri-state area, the hopes, work, language and customs of diverse peoples and cultures come into view. We are people on the move.
