Together We Are Crew, Not Passengers

-The SELS PTC

The Bell Crew has begun a new expedition— The Strength of a Bear! Earlier in February, the kindergartners were thrilled to follow tracks into their classroom to find that a “black bear” had moved in! The crew quickly got to work building a den under the classroom loft— clearing “dirt," "digging up” rocks, and “dragging" tree branches and leaves to create a comfortable home for our stuffed animal black bear and her two cubs.

Throughout the next month, students will seek answers to the following guiding questions: What makes a bear a bear? How do the physical features of a black bear help it survive? What conditions does a black bear need to survive? Like true field biologists, the kindergartners are learning to closely observe bear behaviors and draw conclusions about what they see.

We are fortunate to have many bear “artifacts” on loan from the North American Bear Center in Ely, MN to study: a skull; fur pelts; replicas of claws, teeth and paws; and even actual dehydrated bear scat! Additionally, we are using several video clips taken by the field researchers in Minnesota to observe how bears build dens and forage for food. We are learning a great deal!

The second graders are thrilled to have begun their new science expedition called Ready, Set, Go. We started with the case study Stronger, Higher, Faster where we take a close look at the character traits of Olympians and what good sportsmanship looks like.

Students kicked off the expedition the same day as the 2022 Bejing Opening Ceremonies. Students made torches, paper chain Olympic rings, and helped decorate the new bulletin board. They even had an impromptu parade around the elementary quad cheering, “Go Team, USA!” It was adorable and everyone loved it. The other two case studies will consist of sports science (snow sports, then ball sports) and are full of STEAM experiments and even some local fieldwork.

GO USA! Let the Games Begin! Our Spring Expedition is off to a great start with the Winter Olympics as a kick-off. Students have been reading and learning about the Olympics and the symbols associated with the highly anticipated competitions. To celebrate the beginning of the Beijing Games, Welch Crew students made Olympic Flames and Rings.

After reading about the symbols, we learned that the flame represents FRIENDSHIP and the rings stand for UNITY and RESPECT. We have also looked closely at the characteristics of an Olympic Athlete and made the connection to our SIERRA Norms and Habits of Work. Maybe we have some future Olympians in our crew, as they know a lot about what it takes to be a high level athlete and crew member.

February brought the closure of our Gold Rush Expedition with a cumulating mining town event in our classroom. It was a huge success and everyone enjoyed it!

We started on our science and spring expedition, H2Oh! How Water Shapes Land. Our first case study was “What’s the Matter” and we studied and learned about atoms, molecules, chemical reactions and phases of water. The students had many fun labs where we tested how water acts on wax paper, tried to find out what the mystery substance was, and investigated chemical reactions to see if they could stop the liquid just at the rim of the test tube. We will continue with our water studies as we learn about the phases of water and how the molecules act in each phase, which will lead us into the water cycle and how water helped shape the Earth.

The Brisbin Crew had a fun time creating and passing out Empathy and Caring Cards for Valentine's Day this year! All students participated and were very thoughtful with their words.

We launched our new expedition last week- H2Oh! How Water Shapes Land. We'll be studying the mystery and magic of water on Earth. Brooke Landis has been visiting as our guest teacher, focusing on water at a molecular level, and we have been conducting fun and interesting labs. Students also participated in fieldwork, walking to Donner Lake to join SWEP for their informative winter programming lessons. We are so excited to be back in the swing of things, working hard and learning so much!

From Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of Candy to Dalton Labs Molecular Models, students in the Worster crew are enjoying being in the classroom participating in hands-on science. Thanks to a grant from the SELS Parent Teacher Crew, students can discover, build, and analyze molecular models of heat trapping gasses with the Dalton kits. Thanks PTC for enriching this experience as well as reducing waste of single-use models!!

The Santos Crew kicked off the science expedition, "Is Anything Alive in There?" We have been observing many of the different kingdoms of life under microscopes. We examined cells and all their parts to find the reasons that scientists put the organisms into different categories.

Students have been working hard in math, representing inequalities in three different forms. As the year progresses, the Santos Crew has been leading their own morning meetings to build Crew with their own creativity and games.

February brought a flurry of activities! In 8th-grade math, students wrapped up a unit on rigid geometry by creating original tessellations that they painted on our ceiling tiles.

Our February book focus was free-choice and each student developed a 2-minute, persuasive "matchmaking" pitch to convince others to "date" their books. We put on a speed-dating event and honored the top matchmakers while falling in love with new books.

In our Power to the People Expedition, the crew hosted an Indigenous People's Cultural Celebration. After researching a specific native tribe the room was transformed into a festival to share the best of native cultures. We invited the Brisbin and Akers Crews to attend and sample traditional foods, play native games, learn languages, and hear creation stories and folktales. Ravenwood members were recruited by the Bell Crew to scribe their expedition project processes, and each little person was paired with a bigger buddy who asked them questions and keyed their answers. It was a joyful month!