Hands On and Engaging

At Seabury MS we keep students engaged with hands on activities that are inherently engaging. Mathematics is more than just computation and equations, in our class we used pattern blocks to design cities thinking about efficiency of travel and effective use of space. We asked how do buildings of non-typical shapes affect city design. Some students spent much of their time building and improving designs, while others delved deep into the math of scale and ratios of streets to living space.

In science the students design their own experiments and decide what questions they want to answer. Below are pictures of students engaging in an AP Biology lesson on the evolution of enzymes. They make changes to the variables of an experiment to see how enzymes process poisonous hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, and how they evolved to fit a niche that is a particular organism or organ system.

We take the same concept of enzymes acting as a catalysis for a reaction, just to have fun making colorful elephant toothpaste. The oxygen from the reaction blows bubbles in soapy water.

Sometimes even during breaks our students develop their own hands on projects with materials that are always there for them. This ultimate tower is an example of a pet project that is allowed to thrive.