We are so excited to host the exhibition today! Some things to expect:
- A reading of science-based fiction stories
- A scavenger hunt
- Information and displays about arthropods and insects
- Live insects!
- A Socratic discussion demonstration (you will learn about SOLEs)
- Ancient technology display
- Badge ceremony
- Butterfly release
This week the children focused on exhibition planning, wrapping up their science-based fiction stories, and wrapping up their entomology quest work. We also had visitors!
Entomologists Come to Acton!
Two entomologists from UW-Madison visited. Their names are Celeste and Victoria, and they are PhD students who study honey bees! They talked with the children about insects including types of life cycles and pollinators. Did you know that insects account for 50% of all animal biomass on Earth?? They also brought some very cool insect displays as well as live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. They really do hiss (breath through their bodies) when they are disturbed, including picked up and handled. (Most of) the children loved handling the hissing cockroaches. And our heroes were excited to show our entomologist guests the live habitats and how well they have been taking care of their insects!
As an aside, Celeste told me she was very impressed with the children’s existing knowledge about insects. Amazing how learning by doing, as we have done in our quest, sparks curiosity and makes learning stick!
Exhibition Preparation
The children worked very hard on preparing for the exhibition. They set-up the physical displays of their work, created signs, wrote up a scavenger hunt, designed and wrote a program, and created exhibition ballots. They also decided on the threshold for earning this session’s quest badge and set it at completing 90% of the quest work. We like that they are keeping expectations high! At the same time, not every hero will earn a quest badge. But that’s ok. As they see their friends earn badges and the impact that has on Freedom Levels, we suspect they will become more focused.
Speaking of freedoms, the children also calculated their Freedom Level points and they all made it to Flying for the next session! They have worked so hard to get to that level. Ask your child how they feel about their level and what was required to get there (hint: it’s not just points).
Learning to Be – Character Callouts
We noticed that the civility in the studio began to decline during the second half of the session. On the one hand, the children were stepping up to hold their friends accountable, which we celebrate. It’s a wonderful thing to be running partners and help our friends achieve their goals, and vice versa. On the other hand, we sometimes observed some schadenfreude when friends failed. The Guides brought this observation up at Town Hall, and the heroes committed to all worked towards their first Learning to Be badge (the Katherine Johnson Badge of Gratitude). This badge asks them to write and present ten character callouts to friends and write a letter to a fellow traveler in the studio. They are learning first hand how good it feels to both give and receive positive praise.
Next Session:
We are looking forward to persuasive writing (“Pitch a Field Trip”), a field trip on the bus line, planning an end-of year party, music exploration, and Newton’s Physics of Toys quest!
