2008 Immersion Fossils

Immersion Week

In the spring of each school year, the teachers and students take one week or so to study a central theme or topic together.  We call this Immersion Week, and it is truly a unique part of the curriculum.  Immersion Week culminates with an afternoon of presentations and performances for the parents so that students can demonstrate what they have learned.

Immersion Week 2010, March 18-26: The Story

- Lower School musical performance March 25
- Middle School presentations March 26


ImmersionWeek 2009: Explore

  • Pre-K explored the building and photographed objects that resembled each letter of the alphabet
  • Kindergarten explored magnets and magnetism
  • 1st grade studied water through experiments, research, and art
  • 2nd grade studied Great Plains Natve Americans
  • 3rd grade studied mysertious events in history
  • 4th grade explored flight and tested the flying time and distance of model airplanes
  • Mrs. Uhlarik-Boller's group explored comedy throughout history and the students performed classic routines
  • Ms. Burns' group studied how 20th century history influenced music, with the students writing and performing their own short play
  • Mrs. Detzler's group studied green and alternative energy to help reduce energy consumption
  • Mr. Allen's group explored forensic science
  • Senora Schnecke's group studied re-Columbian


Immersion Week 2008: Roots

  • Pre-K studied root plants
  • Kindergarten created animal sculptures using root vegetables
  • 1st grade studied the origins of art
  • 2nd grade studied the students' countries of origin
  • 3rd grade collaborated with 2nd grade on countries of origin
  • 4th grade studied ancient Roman civilization
  • Art created bead strings representing family history
  • Music studied the roots of rock & roll

In middle school, students from grades 5-8 worked in groups led by each faculty member:

  • Ms. Burns (Social Studies) - Getting to the Root of the Problem: Studied dilemmas the U.S. government has faced throughout our history.
  • Mr. Allen (Science) - Roots of Life: Explored creatures throughout Earth’s history and the methods used to study them.  Topics included fossils, dinosaurs, paleontology/archeology, rock & fossil dating, mass extinctions and evolution. 
  • Mrs. Uhlarik-Boller (Language Arts) - Who We Were: Studied the stories of immigrants from all nations, religions and ethnicities.  Wrote and performed a play telling these stories.
  • Mrs. Detzler (Math) - Math Origins: Where did pi come from?  How did we determine that the Earth is round?  The group studied Greek and other civilizations to relive these amazing discoveries.
  • Sra. Schenecke (Spanish) - Roots of Spanish/Latin American Dance: An introduction to Flamenco, Salsa, Cha-Cha, and Rumba are a few of the dances we learned.  Students performed in pairs and as a group to show their new moves.

Immersion Week 2007

Immersion Week 2007 took place between March 7-15, with parents coming to school on the afternoon of the 15th for the students' final presentations.  The lower school grades each studied their own themes, while the middle school focused on a central theme of the last 50 Years:

  • The language arts group wrote an original script highlighting the arts and popular culture from each decade between the 1950's and the 1990's.  The performers covered music, TV, movies, theater, and literature from each decade.
  • The social studies group also wrote an original script portraying a TV broadcast of historic events from the last 50 years.  Each student took on several roles and changed costumes throughout the show.
  • The math group examined architecture and engineering from the last 50 years, with projects on the Mackinac Bridge disaster and reconstruction, the Hancock Tower in Chicago, and Piper jet aircraft.
  • The science group explored technological advancements in areas such as electronics, game design, rockets and space flight, and the science of sugar in food.

 

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