6th Grade Food Expo

Our sixth graders celebrated the culmination of our Food for Thought unit during our Taste of 447 event. In teams of six or seven, our restaurateurs branded restaurants that feature local and seasonal ingredients found on our trips to the Greenmarkets. They learned firsthand the difficult process of making group decisions and compromising. They featured their branding materials including their menus, business cards and signage. Additionally, they fielded questions from visitors about the lifecycle and harvest time of a variety of plants, the process of developing local recipes and how to brand and create a restaurant. We are so proud of their hard work!

6th Grade Harvest

On our first day with our sixth graders, they worked on a collaborative activity where they planted seeds. Our students later transplanted the seedlings into our school garden in the courtyard and learned about the lifecycle of plants, the parts of plants and the harvest time. This week we were able to harvest our plants! The kids made their own salad dressing with a variety of emulsifiers, vinegars and oils and tasted their fresh vegetables - a true farm to table snack!

8th Grade Forensics Final Evidence Boards

 Our eighth graders did fantastic work on our fictitious murder mystery of seventh grader Freddy Baker. The evidence boards helped them synthesize all of the information they gathered during the unit:
*they viewed the crime scene and made objective observations of catalogued evidence
*they heard from seven witnesses (Mrs. Russo, Mr. Geneen, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Kuklakis, Freddy's classmate, Ms. Rusch & Mr. Smith)
*they viewed additional evidence packets (Freddy's class schedule, Spanish seating chart and bathroom sign-out, health record, anecdotal from Ms. Haft, discipline letter from Ms. Rusch, staff key sign-out)
*they ran forensic tests on the catalogued evidence (decoding, DNA, foot to stride, blood typing, blood spatter and fingerprinting).

8th Grade Forensics Labs

During our eighth grade Forensics and Justice unit, our students are investigating a fictitious crime. They are trying to figure out the cause of death of a fictitious seventh grader, Freddy Baker. They have learned forensic techniques through inquiry based labs. Now they need to put the crime scene evidence to the test. They did blood typing, DNA fingerprinting, decoding, blood spatter, fingerprinting and foot to stride analysis. After compiling this information along with the witness testimony, they are creating evidence boards and writing a synopsis of the case. 

8th Grade Trip - New York Hall of Science

The eighth graders visited the New York Hall of Science to participate in the Forensics Frenzy workshop. They learned about ink chromatography, fingerprinting, fiber analysis and decoding secret messages. 

6th Grade Trip - The Grange Rooftop Farm

Our sixth graders visited the Grange Rooftop Farm to learn about the benefits of urban farming. They study what it takes to have a successful farm inside city limits. Additionally, they learned about the traditional food system and all of the entities required. They examined how using a CSA or Greenmarket and compost greatly reduces waste and pollution. They will use this information to help them write about the spotlight ingredients they find at the Greenmarket.