Term 3 Quest & Class Descriptions:

(2021-22 School Year)

8th grade Capstone (STEM & Humanities)

What Will I Contribute?

Guides: Abigail & Annika

This double STEM/Humanities Quest centers on the Millennium Capstone Project, a self-driven research action project which explores the driving questions of Millennium School: "Who am I?", "How do I relate to others?", and "What will I contribute to the world?" Following the arc of the Hero’s Journey, students will begin the term by investigating big questions like "What are my unique gifts and passions?" and "What issues do I care about?", which will guide them to a more focused project. Students will select their own academic competencies and habits of a learner to match their chosen topic and action project, and they will assess themselves after completing their project at the end of the term. Each student will plan and schedule their own unique culmination, to take place sometime in Term 5.

Humanities Quests:

What Makes Me Happy?

Guide: Michael

6th & 7th Grade

In this Quest students will learn to think about happiness from a variety of perspectives. Beginning with Aristotle and Buddha, we examine how philosophies of happiness have changed over time and influenced our lives, often in invisible ways. Students lead weekly Harkness discussions on a wide range of articles, and will eventually come together in small groups to conduct their own happiness experiments. As we move into the science of happiness, students will consider some of the recent research in positive psychology, centered on gratitude, compassion, and kindness. All of which will lead them to form and test their own hypotheses in answer to the quest question.

What is a Nation?

Guide: Simon

6th & 7th Grade

In this Quest, students will explore what it means to be a nation. We will explore what creates a nation of people, what binds them in the present, and what future they seek together. Students will explore what a nation-state is, and attempt to understand its politics, government, economy, society, art, and environment. Finally, we contrast our findings with our own experience of belonging to a nation.

STEM QUESTS:

Can We Know Too Much?

Guide: Lindsay

6th & 7th Grade

In this Quest we are tackling the question "Can we know too much?" The quest will culminate with a bioethics position paper and public bioethics symposium. Position papers will outline the background research on a bioethics question of the students’ choice, along with ethical considerations and their final decision and justification for their decision. The bioethics symposium will feature keynote speakers, a digital bioethics fair, and live debate. In class this term, students will learn about inheritance of traits through asexual and sexual reproduction, genetic disorders, genetic technology, bioethical principles, stakeholders, claims, and how to craft a strong justification.

How Can We Partner with Nature to Design Our Future?

Guide: Taylor

6th & 7th Grade

In this quest, students will explore how nature informs how humans develop technology and design spaces through the concept of biomimicry. Students will be able to identify and investigate existing examples of how human innovations are inspired by nature. Students will analyze patterns in nature, conduct research, and develop new ideas for structures, spaces, or tools that employ biomimicry. Students will develop their ideas into designs and present their final projects at culminations.

Term 3 Spanish:

Spanish 1

Guide: Kyle

In Term 3, Spanish 1 students will build upon their understanding of present tense verbs by studying regular -er and -ir verbs as well as the irregular verb “tener” (to have). The class will also acquire vocabulary related to the family and descriptive adjectives in order to talk about their families in Spanish. The term will culminate in a final project where the students will create family trees and short descriptions of different members of their family.

Spanish 2

Guides: Kyle & Stephanie Ponce

Spanish 2 students will be looking closely into sports and pastimes vocabulary. Students will have the opportunity to read about the popular sports in Latin America. Students will end the term by reviewing the present tense of ir and stem-changing verbs e →ie, o→ue.

Spanish 3

Guide: Stephanie Ponce

¡Club de lectura! Spanish 3 students participate in a book club for term 3. Students will be reading an adventurous book based on their appropriate level. The book club are Momo by Michael Ende, Esperanza Renace by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Pobre Ana by Blaine Ray, Los ojos de Carmen by Verónica Moscoso and Un Caballo Llamado Libertad by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Term 3 Math:

Math 6

Guide: Colleen

This term, students will embark on a self-paced journey through the math competencies. They will work on their own and with their peers through Competency Passports at a pace and level that is just right for them. Once they feel they have a solid understanding of the material, they will request a quiz or test, self-assed (with my help, of course), and choose to move on or re-assess. I will meet with each student individually during the term to check in on their progress, their engagement, and to encourage them to challenge themselves appropriately. Students will achieve at all different levels and paces, but most will complete 3-6 competencies. We also will comce together as a whole class periodically to discuss different strategies for the math they are learning, learn more about why math helps us to understand the world, and just have some fun together.

Math 7

Guide: Colleen

This term, students will embark on a self-paced journey through the math competencies. They will work on their own and with their peers through Competency Passports at a pace and level that is just right for them. Once they feel they have a solid understanding of the material, they will request a quiz or test, self-assed (with my help, of course), and choose to move on or re-assess. I will meet with each student individually during the term to check in on their progress, their engagement, and to encourage them to challenge themselves appropriately. Students achieved at all different levels and paces, but most completed 2-4 competencies. We also came together as a whole class periodically to discuss different strategies for the math they are learning, learn more about why math helps us to understand the world, and just have some fun together.

Math 8: Linear Equations

Guide: Taryn

In the first half of this course, we will be answering the question: "How can I graph my name in a graphing calculator?" Throughout this project, students will build their skills at writing equations of all types of linear functions and begin an exploration into the Algebraic concepts of domain and range. We will deepen our understanding of slope as a representation of rate of change and considered multiple forms of linear function rules, including slope-intercept form and point slope form. In the second half of the course, students will write and solve linear equations in one variable. We will build on the understandings gained in Math 6 and Math 7 as we approach more complex linear equations, including ones with variables on both sides of the equal sign and equations with no solutions, one solution, and infinitely many solutions. Finally, we will begin exploring systems of equations.

Accelerated Algebra: Functions and Exponential Functions

Guide: Taryn

This term, we begin our deep dive into our study of functions. Prior to this term, students have gained familiarity with one type of function: the linear function. This term, we begin by expanding our understanding of what it means for a relationship to be a function. We'll learn how to represent function relationships using function notation and learn how to interpret function notation in graphs. We will also learn how to calculate the average rate of change of a function. Once we've gotten grounded in what functions are, we will begin our exploration of various types of functions. This term, we will study absolute value functions, piecewise functions, inverse functions, and conclude with a deep dive into exponential functions.

TERm 3 Physical Expression

Body Movements & Yoga

Guide: Shawn

This unit is designed to introduce students to using their bodies in ways they never used them before. This unit will introduce students to different yoga practices and movements. By the end of this term students will be able to apply common yoga techniques to their daily lives.

Term 3 Creative Expression

Intro to Drawing

Guide: Mei Li

In this course, students will use different mediums, such as pen, pencil, and charcoal to experiment with mark making and line quality. Students will practice observation and develop their skills in learning to see as well as putting what they see on paper. We will also work on shading techniques, composition, spacial awareness, and understanding perspective through various methods including still-life and figure drawing. Through looking at other artists' work, students will further develop their vocabulary and language around talking about art, as well as practice applying various techniques to their own drawings and making them their own.

Photography

Guide: LaRae

This term, students in Photography will experiment with different techniques and cameras to develop their own photographic style! Through daily activities, the students will learn about integral photography vocabulary, lighting, perspective, and messaging. We will troubleshoot various types of photography, discuss what makes images special, recreate recognizable photos, and perform self-reflection through photography. The class will culminate in a gallery alongside the students in drawing at the end of the term.