Term 2 Quest & Class Descriptions:

(2021-22 School Year)

HUMANITIES QUESTS:

Why do we tell stories?

Guide: Annika

In this Quest, 6th and 7th graders will explore the nature of “story,” studying Joseph Campbell’s theories in comparative mythology and applying them to some of the most influential stories known to human history, including Adam and Eve, the Ramayana, and the story of Siddhartha. Students will also consider the societal functions of myth, illuminating their impact on art, culture, and religion around the world. After becoming familiar with fundamental character archetypes and narrative arcs, students will consider the impact of myth and story on their modern lives, making a case for a continued need for storytelling to give meaning and significance to our lives.

What is a debate?

Guide: Simon

Students in this quest will focus on learning how to debate. Students will explore four different topics. Students will conduct research, create arguments, discuss strategies with their teammates, and participate in an adversarial debate for each topic. Additionally, students will participate in a public speaking and body language workshop. Finally, students will culminate this quest with a formal debate in which they will learn the side they will represent moments before the event.

Who am I?

Guide: Michael

This term 8th graders will dive deep into the fundamental question, “who am I?”, examining different aspects of their identities, personal experience, and life philosophies. This journey will integrate psychology, art, and creative writing, culminating in a final Who Am I? Multimedia Art Piece, which students will feature at our end-of-term Art Expo.

STEM QUESTS:

How do I transform?

Guide: Lindsay

This 6th grade quest will culminate in a virtual art gallery, with students in the role of artists, depicting body systems and transformations through a variety of media. In class, students will explore the human body as interacting systems, including the respiratory, digestive, circulatory, nervous, reproductive, endocrine, and musculoskeletal systems. Students will learn how each of these systems are connected and interrelated. They will also explore the issues related to puberty and rites of passages to mark the transformation of children to adults throughout the world. Students will present their final art pieces and artist statements to the broader Millennium community, and manage all aspects of planning and executing a virtual gallery opening.

Is there life in outer space?

Guide: Abigail

In this astrobiology STEM Quest, 7th and 8th grade students will assume the role of scientists exploring distant planets in the search for extraterrestrial life. After learning about cell biology and other aspects of life on Earth, students will work in teams to research planets beyond our solar system. Students will use methods that parallel how real scientists determine atmosphere, temperature, distance, etc. and then make an argument for why there might be life on one of these planets. For our culmination, the teams will present their findings to a panel of experts in the fields of astronomy, biology, and chemistry, with the goal of "securing grant funding" to devote more resources to researching a given planet.

How can we leverage technology to emulate the human body?

Guide: Taylor

In this quest, 7th and 8th grade students will investigate how technology is used in the biomedical engineering field to make medical devices. Students will explore anatomy and biology, learning about the human body and how technology can work to improve human physiology. Students will employ the engineering design process and create prototypes of medical devices. During culmination, they will present their prototypes and describe the device's functionality and biocompatibility.

Math:

Math 6

Guide: Colleen Erickson

This term the students started off by completing a diagnostic that determined, along with their individual preference, what competencies they would be studying this term. Although we started each class with an opener together (like Number Talks and Visual Patterns), students then worked in groups on appropriately challenging competencies. Some students answered the question “What are ratios and how do we use them?” while others examined what it means for relationships to be proportional. Then they applied their new knowledge to percentages, which are just another way of comparing parts to wholes. The students also worked on a Problem Choice Board this term, where they completed between 10 and 20 problems of their choosing covering 4th through 8th grade competencies. Finally, they continued to challenge themselves using optional extension opportunities, including working on something called the Puzzle Passport.

Math 7

Guide: Colleen Erickson

This term the students deepened their previous understanding of ratios by exploring what makes a relationship proportional. They used tables, graphs, and algebraic equations to represent proportional relationships. They then used this new knowledge to explore the definition of pi and how it’s used to measure the different dimensions of circles. While working on all of this new material, students continued exploring their mathematical genius by engaging in Number Talks and other opener activities that opened all our eyes to the many ways humans have to make sense of mathematics. Finally, they continued to challenge themselves using optional extension opportunities, including working on something called the Puzzle Passport.

Math 8

Guide: Taryn

This term, students study will study dilations and similar figures. We will learn how to identify and perform dilations of figures and use this knowledge to learn how to identify and analyze similar triangles. They will build on their understanding of similar triangles to make sense of the concept of slope. Finally, students will begin our inquiry into linear relationships, studying both standard and slope-intercept form of the equation of a line and making connections between graphs, equations, and tables.

Accelerated Algebra

Guide: Taryn

This term, students will expand and deepen their understanding of expressions, equations, and inequalities gained in previous courses. They will reason about equations, inequalities, and systems of equations and inequalities as ways to model situations involving constraints, and they will interpret the process of solving equations and inequalities in terms of finding values that satisfy those constraints. The process of finding solutions may involve rewriting and manipulating equations. Students learn to explain and validate the steps they use to solve equations, with a focus on justifying why these steps make sense. Throughout the unit, students practice reasoning about situations and mathematical representations, interpreting expressions and numbers in context, and using mathematical tools to model quantities and relationships. We will end the term by applying our understanding of linear equations to situations that can be modeled using two-variables statistics.

Spanish:

Spanish 1

Guide: Kyle Borkowski

In Spanish 1, students will learn about classroom and school-related vocabulary, focusing on the school system in Mexico. Students will also be reviewing the present tense of common -ar verbs and telling time. At the end of the term, they will demonstrate their new skills by presenting on their own school week in Spanish.

Spanish 2

Guides: Stephanie Ponce & Kyle Borkowski

Spanish 2 students will learn how to talk about family members and friends. Focus on writing how to describe people and things by using descriptive adjectives. Students will build off their understanding of -ar verbs from last term by studying -er & -ir present tense verbs.

Spanish 3

Guide: Stephanie Ponce

Spanish 3 students will do weekly readings, and students will be learning how to annotate their readings. We will continue learning about Latin American countries by learning about "El día de los muertos" celebrated in different parts of Latin America. They'll learn about the 'cempasuchil' flower and all about its meaning.

Physical Expression:

Team Building Through Sports

Guide: Shawn McCoy

This unit aims to use recreational sports to introduce students to team-building, effective communication, and leadership concepts. Implementing team-building activities through sports helps students understand the value of collaboration and will enhance leadership skills. By the end of this unit, students will have a greater understanding of how to communicate effectively, the power of collaboration, improved leadership skills while improving their skills in recreational sports.

Creative Expression:

Dance

Guide: Jeremy

This term in Dance, students will learn the foundations of HipHop Fusion. In HipHop Fusion, students will learn the technique of HipHop while exploring other forms of dance. In the next few weeks we touch on other forms of dance such as Jazz Ballet African and Modern Movement. This course is not only built to teach the students how to dance, but to also help them build self-confidence, teach them how to apply dance to life skills, and to teach them how to support/motivate their fellow peers. At the end of this term the students, will be able to retain and build choreography to put on a full showcase.

Music

Guide: Spencer

In this class students have the opportunity to learn music as a means of self expression, performance, and therapy through the ukulele! During this course, we are going to visit topics such as chords, notes, scales, rhythms, and perform songs such as Over the Rainbow, as well as some student selected songs. The goal of this class is to give the students a sense of confidence in their ability to learn a song on their own or create their own music, all while learning the intricacies of the ukulele. We are inspiring a new generation of music makers and appreciators in sharing the joy of music!

Acting

Guide: LaRae Mays-Hardy

This term, students in Acting will collaborate with students in Hip-Hop and Ukulele to create our first showcase back in person! Students were able to choose their class focus on either creative writing/acting or acting/technical theater. In either case, students will build or reinforce foundational skills in performing, performance analysis, and creative collaboration. The course includes discussions and activities about theater basics, etiquette, playwriting craft, stage management, and more. The culminating project will be our showcase performance for loved ones on Thursday, December 16th.