March has provided so many opportunities for our Scorpions to apply their academic studies to hands-on projects and experiments! They're using their knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and math to create cool projects like 3D-printed sculptures, make their own ice-cream, design the 2023 yearbook, and more!
Lower School
Mrs. B's artists created mini dot viewfinders to change their perspective and hone their focus on the little fleeting moments around them. Artist Yayoi Kusama was their inspiration for this project. She describes Earth as one little polka dot among millions of other celestial bodies. Kusama inspires us to notice the delicate balance and connection we have to others around us.
Ms. Lopez's Lower School Spanish students performed skits fully spoken in Spanish! The students had so much fun presenting their scenes as animals communicating to each other in a jungle.
The Grade 3 Girls Physical Education class worked on rhythmic movement by doing Cardio Drumming!
Middle School
Middle School Scorpions wrote and recited essays about their values and beliefs. They also created self-portraits that went along with their essays. Parents were invited to be their audience, and the "This I Believe" showcase was a huge hit! Read more information about the showcase here.
Upper School
Gary Porper and Derek Fitzpatrick have teamed up to build 3D-printed sculptures for Calculus! They say, "It's like a STEM project minus the engineering. The project is about having students use a CAD program to design a 3D object. They can design their solid by either using predefined shapes or multivariable functions. Once they have created the design, they use a 3D printer to generate the 3-D object they created. Lastly, they calculate the object's surface area, volume, mass, center of mass and moments of inertia using either double or triple integrals."
Honors Chemistry students celebrated a successful completion of their thermochemistry unit by making ice cream in a bag and learning about freezing point depression at the same time! More about the chemistry of ice cream here. They also received an introduction to their next unit on the quantum atom by decorating their ice cream with color flame candles - a more ecofriendly alternative to the traditional method that uses toxic salts. Thank you, Mrs. Smith-Nichols for the science and fun!
Ms. Santangelo's students in the computational section of 9th grade physics used voltmeters and conductive paper and ink to map out electric field lines for different configurations of charge. It is a cool-looking lab and students feel accomplished using a multimeter for the first time!
Mrs. Smith-Nichols' CP Chemistry students have been learning about the periodic table in a PBL unit that focuses on conflict minerals. They learned that one of the sources of tin for making tin cans is the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has weak rule of law, allowing for both child labor and environmentally unfriendly mining conditions. The chem students conducted research on finding an alternative element for tin and presented their pitches to the "Board of Directors" for CanDo Enterprises.
Sam Browder ('26) created a music-inspired series of images that he edited in an animation for an independent project. Here's a video of his work showing the transformations.
Upper School Ceramics students had so much fun creating artwork during their field trip to the Ogres-Holm pottery studio in Carson City!
The Media Arts class had a well-deserved celebration after finishing the 2023 yearbook! The 128-page yearbook took an incredible amount of effort and skills in graphic design, layout design, photography, writing, project management, and collecting and editing content. This year's design has been nominated for best design and will compete against other schools in the US for an award! Please congratulate our amazing students for all their hard work and accomplishments.
