Author: Marisa Palmer

It was a fun and wonderful week in the Discovery Studio.

On Monday, the Discovery heroes began planning their upcoming camping trip. They brainstormed and listed the various skills they would like to demonstrate to families for the exhibition portion, and even included some challenges for their parents, ranging from setting up tents to building campfires. In addition, the heroes enthusiastically discussed the meals they wanted to prepare and enjoy during the trip. They considered a variety of camping-friendly recipes, including s’mores, and campfire-cooked breakfasts. The heroes took into account dietary preferences, ensuring Acton families can have delicious and satisfying meals.

During Civilization, Discovery heroes learned about the story of Jacques Cartier, the French explorer who made contributions to the exploration of North America. They learned how Cartier’s voyages in the 16th century led to the mapping of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Saint Lawrence River, which eventually paved the way for French claims to Canada. The heroes learned Cartier’s motivations for exploration, including the quest for precious metals and a northwest passage to Asia.

During core skills, Discovery heroes set new goals for themselves to achieve next year. In addition, the heroes are enjoying sharing their studio space with the Spark heroes during core skills. Discovery heroes had a lot of fun exploring Montessori materials this week, and serving as servant leaders to the Spark heroes by providing lessons in some of the practical life skills. Meanwhile, the Montessori math materials help Discovery heroes bridge the gap between concrete and abstract math concepts.

We’re thrilled to see what new adventures await us next week!

The Discovery heroes had a super fun week!

For the Survivor Quest, Discovery heroes drafted their own identity map to describe themselves. These identity maps showcase their heroes’ journeys and aspirations. After delving into their personal stories, they shifted gears to focus on practical survival skills, starting with first aid. Understanding that safety and preparedness are crucial in survival situations, and the heroes paired up to practice essential first aid methods. This activity was not just about learning techniques—it was also about building trust and cooperation among team members. On Thursday, the heroes learned about potential dangers in nature while camping and how to respond in case of emergency. 

In the communication challenges, Discovery heroes continued to draft their stories, showcasing remarkable enthusiasm and creativity. One of our fellow heroes even left a cliffhanger for the readers to eagerly wonder what happens next in his story…..!

For research this week, Discovery heroes focused planning for the upcoming school camping trip. They explored the park’s features, including its diverse wildlife and beautiful trails. Excitement grew as they imagined their upcoming adventure amidst the park’s natural beauty. Additionally, each hero planned to lead an outdoor activity for Acton families to enjoy during the camping trip.

On Friday, the heroes held a badge ceremony to mark one of our newly joined discovery heroes’ accomplishments. Badge ceremonies are a heartwarming and motivating experience, leaving every hero feeling inspired and ready to tackle new challenges in the weeks to come.

It has been a busy week of exploration and learning. Here’s a glimpse into Spark’s adventures:

Heroes have been honing their awareness by memorizing their full names, addresses, at least one parent’s phone number, allergies, and medical conditions. This knowledge ensures that they can seek help if needed.

The learners crafted “Where I Live Flip Books” to navigate their geographical surroundings confidently. Exploring maps shows them their place in the world, highlighting its vastness and diversity—a crucial understanding before the upcoming Survivor camping expedition in the Wisconsin wilderness!

The heroes have been settling into their new space and getting used to sharing a larger studio with Discovery Learners. The children are all working on showing respect for each other’s space, and communicating kindly when someone may not be. 

They have also had a blast exploring new Montessori materials:

Knobless Cylinders: Perfecting sense of size and dimensions through stacking cylinders of varying sizes.
Sound Cylinders: Engaging listening skills by discerning different sounds.
Baric Tablets: Understanding weight differences by touch.
Brown Staircase and Pink Tower: Learning about size progression and careful construction from large to small.
Solar System Puzzle: Discovering the shapes and sizes of planets and stars in our universe.

It’s been an enriching and dynamic week of discovery and teamwork here in Spark Studio. 

This week, Discovery Studio was filled with excitement as we welcomed some heroes from Spark Studio for a visit week in Discovery. The collaboration added a vibrant dynamic to our activities, and it strengthened friendships and shared learning experiences.

The week kicked off with the continuation of our Survivor Quest. On Monday the Discovery heroes paired up with Spark buddies to learn about the water cycle. Together, they explored the different stages of the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation. The afternoon concluded with a fun and engaging Kahoot game.

On Tuesday, the heroes explored the topic of filtering water by conducting a water filtration experiment. They learned about the importance of clean water and methods used to filter it. The heroes then tested their filters by pouring dirty water through them and observing the results. They noted the clarity of the water before and after filtration, discussing how each layer contributed to the removal of impurities.

In the Mandarin special this week, the heroes learned about different colors in Chinese. The heroes learned how to say and write different colors in Chinese, such as red (红色 hóng sè), yellow (黄色 huáng sè), and blue (蓝色 lán sè). To reinforce their learning, the heroes participated in various interactive activities, like matching color words with colored objects and practiced writing the characters following the stroke orders for each color. It is fascinating to see how much they have improved in practicing their Chinese handwriting.  The Mandarin special concluded with a video about Chinese high school students’  life. The heroes were interested to learn about the different daily routines, study habits, and cultural aspects of education in China. This video provided a valuable glimpse into the lives of their peers across the world and sparked interesting discussions about different educational systems.

In civilization this week, the heroes learned about various astronomers and astronomy theories in the Renaissance, including the heliocentric theory proposed by Copernicus, which challenged the long-held geocentric view of the universe. They learned how this shift in perspective marked the beginning of modern astronomy. They explored Galileo Galilei’s contributions to astronomy, including his use of the telescope to observe more celestial bodies. The heroes were also captivated by Galileo’s famous gravity experiments. He demonstrated through his experiments that all objects, regardless of their weight, fall at the same rate when air resistance is negligible. These experiments laid the groundwork for the laws of motion and the understanding of gravity that would later be formalized by Isaac Newton. 

We’re excited to see what new adventures await us next week!

This week, the Discovery heroes were immersed in the Growing Curiosity Quest where the oldest heroes have the opportunity to design, plan and lead a week-long quest on a subject of their choosing. This week, a hero led a creative writing quest. She kicked off the week with inspiring launches about the essential components of a story, covering elements like characters, plot and climax.

She then challenged her fellow travelers to create their own writing projects. They brainstormed story ideas, developed story characters, and started drafting their unique tales. It was wonderful to see their creativity and imagination in full bloom as they explored the art of storytelling.

The writing quest concluded with a feedback survey, and the heroes all contributed valuable feedback on various aspects of the quest, such as what they enjoyed the most, what challenges they faced, and suggestions for future improvements. This feedback not only highlighted the successes of the quest but also offered insights into how all heroes can make their future growing curiosity quests even more engaging.

Meanwhile the Mandarin special has been going really well. Both Spark and Discovery heroes showed great interest in learning this new language. We began by going over the words we have learned so far, focusing on the numbers 1-10. The heroes practiced both the pronunciations and the handwriting of these numbers, reinforcing their understanding and recall. Next, we reviewed the characters for “sun” (日 – rì) and “moon” (月 – yuè). The heroes practiced writing these characters on the white board. Next, we watched an engaging video that introduced different family members in Chinese. The heroes learned the words for family members such as father (爸爸 – bàba), mother (妈妈 – māma), older brother (哥哥 – gēge), older sister (姐姐 – jiějie), younger brother (弟弟 – dìdi), and younger sister (妹妹 – mèimei) etc. We also discussed how these terms can be used not only for blood relatives but also for people who are older or younger than you in a respectful and familial way.

We concluded Tuesday mandarin special with another fascinating Chinese idiom story called “Bā miáo zhù zhǎng” (拔苗助长). This idiom translates to “pulling up sprouts to help them grow.” It tells the story of a farmer who was impatient for his crops to grow, so he pulled the crops up, hoping they would grow faster. Instead, he ended up harming the plants. The moral of the story is that impatience can lead to counterproductive results and that growth and success often require time and patience. The heroes were intrigued by the story!

In Civilization, the heroes delved into the fascinating period of the Renaissance, with a particular focus on Johannes Gutenberg and his revolutionary invention: the printing press. The heroes were amazed to discover how the printing press enabled the mass production of books, making literature and scientific knowledge accessible to a wider audience. They all expressed that the printing press was an important invention and they could not imagine a life without books!

In our Civilization Research this week, the heroes researched two remarkable artists: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The heroes were fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci, renowned for his diverse talents as a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, and inventor. It is interesting to know that da Vinci designed many inventions dealing with water – most notably, scuba gear!

The Discovery heroes enjoyed another fun and enriching week!

This week’s highlight was our first Growing Curiosity Quest week, which was entirely planned and facilitated by one of our oldest heroes. The quest theme was centered around chickens, offering a unique and engaging learning experience for everyone. The heroes then held real chicks. They had so much fun and learned how to gently hold the chicks and treat them with care. The heroes also researched easter egger chickens, which can lay a variety of colored eggs, from blue to green and sometimes even pink. They also explored the chicken’s life cycle from embryo to hatchling. Finally, each created their own chicken art project. The chicken-themed growing curiosity quest week concluded with a feedback survey and discussion about what worked, and what the lead hero would do differently next time. In the survey, they all expressed that the facilitator did amazing in coming up with launches and activities related to chicken. They all enjoyed the quest activities and they had a lot of fun with the chicks. 

In the mandarin special this week, we first reviewed the pronunciations and handwriting of mandarin numbers 1-10. To make the language learning even more enjoyable, the heroes learned a catchy number song in Mandarin. Music is a powerful tool for language acquisition, making it easier to remember words and phrases.

Then the heroes expanded their vocabulary by learning how to write the Chinese characters for “sun” and “moon.” The Chinese Character for Sun is 日, and the pronunciation goes to the fourth tone (rì). The Character for Moon is 月, and the pronunciation is yuè. At the end, we wrapped up with learning an interesting Chinese idiom story. Chinese idioms, known as 成语 (chéngyǔ), are an integral part of the language and culture. They are often derived from historical events, fables, and folklore, encapsulating profound meanings and moral lessons in just a few characters. Learning these idioms helps heroes not only understand the language better but also gain insights into universal truths.

The idiom story we learned  is called 守株待兔” (Shǒu Zhū Dài Tù).  The idiom “守株待兔” is used to describe someone who waits idly for luck to come instead of working hard, relying on chance rather than effort. It teaches the heroes the importance of diligence. 

 In civilization, Heroes learned about the founding of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec Empire. Situated on an island in Lake Texcoco, Tenochtitlan became one of the largest and most magnificent cities in the world at the time. Through engaging stories and myths, heroes also learned about the Aztec pantheon of gods. 

We brought in friends from Toca Soccer to lead fun soccer games for physical education. The heroes had a great time playing games that were both competitive and collaborative and focused on communication and skills on the field.

In communication challenges this week, Discovery heroes practiced for their upcoming journey meeting with their parents by role playing. As meeting leaders, the heroes prepared a brief presentation outlining their recent accomplishments, areas for improvement, and goals for the future. The “parents” listened attentively, asked questions, and provided feedback to the meeting leader. On Friday, the heroes customized their journey meeting invitations and sent them out to parents either via email or hand-outs. As the journey meetings are approaching, it is exciting to see the heroes present their accomplishments, discuss their challenges, and set new goals with the support and encouragement of their parents!