Middle School Student Newsletter, 5/3/19

Just another reminder that we have started  making bread again, so sign up today! The bread sign-up clipboard is located just past the administration desks and before the kitchen. It is across from the bubblers. Bread is only $5 so sign up today! And trust me, it is delicious!

We are also happy to announce that we will be starting two new book groups in English Language Arts! One book will be reading I Am Princess X, a not so ordinary tale about a comic, two girls, and lots of mysteries. The other book is called The Liberation of Gabriel King. It is about two friends who spend their summer conquering their fears. We are very excited and can’t wait to dive into the books.

On Thursday the students went on a field trip to the Meyerson Lab at URI. There, we learned about phragmites. Some species of phragmites are invasive, taking over marshes and proving incredibly difficult to get rid of. At the lab we played a small game in which we tried to distinguish the invasive phragmites from the three native species. Afterwards we had a picnic lunch outside. Then the two URI students we were with brought out some dried phragmites stalks and some cut up pipes. These were the materials to make bee hotels, motels, or inns. We filled the pipes with the dead phragmites and painted them. The whole trip was very fun and I think I can speak on behalf of the class that we all dig gardening.

On Monday, we kicked of the wind energy portion of science and started making wind turbines. They are very fun to experiment with, and we have had a blast changing the pitch, shape, and size of the blades to see which design produces the most voltage. We test the turbines by putting them in front of a fan, turning it on, and seeing how much voltage is made using a multimeter.