2021/2022 Projects and News

May 9th-13th

Students in both the 7th and 8th grade are working on the research for their genetics projects. Topics include the use of genetic engineering to develop new foods and biofuels, genetic medicine to treat everything from cancer to hearing loss, as well as the history of early types of genetic engineering to produce domesticated animals and plants. Our field trip this week took us to the UNE campus in Biddeford where we visited the Marine Science Center. We learned about their research on dogfish, corals, salmon, kelp and phytoplankton. Of particular interest was the research they're doing on EDNA which is environmental DNA that can be used to detect the presence of organisms in the marine environment.

May 1-6th

This week featured a wonderful field trip to Sunflower Creamery and goat farm. In addition to goat cuddles, we learned from farmers Hope and Chris about the traits they select for when breeding their herd. Students have learned about other aspects of heredity and genetic engineering and are starting to think about their own genetics projects which we will be working on for the next couple of weeks.

April 25th-29th

This week the seventh graders worked on their poetry response projects. This project required them to select and respond to five different poems of their choosing. The responses varied from collage, painting, companion poems and traditional prose response. It was fun to watch them get into this project and approach it each in their own way. In 8th grade Language Arts students are forming book circles around listening to different fiction and non-fiction podcasts.

In project time students are learning about natural and artificial selection as part of our study of genetics. Both grades worked on building vertical gardens to hold the seeds they planted before vacation.

March 14-25

The beginning of this week featured the 7th graders' Celebration of Learning in the LLC. 7th graders shared their projects with other 7th/8th graders as well as building administrators. The projects all centered around topics related to the Middle Ages and ranged from Viking weaponry, Medieval torture devices to Hinduism, agriculture and the cuisines of Asia and Africa. Students built models, baked bread, created slideshows videos and posters to demonstrate their learning.

March 7-11 Solar ovens

We are wrapping up our thermal energy unit building solar ovens. Students worked to design and build a solar oven using cardboard, aluminum foil, plexiglass and duct tape. Next week they will try and use their oven to cook something simple like a quesadilla or a cookie.

February 14-18 Hot Air Balloons

This week we worked in mixed grade level groups to create hot air balloons. These tissue paper masterpieces will be launched on the first cold and windless day we get after vacation. They will demonstrate our understanding of thermal energy, convection and relative density.

February 1- 11 Thermal Energy Labs

Over the course of the last two weeks we've done a number of labs experimenting with different types of thermal energy transfer. Students have observed the changes in temperature in heating and cooling water as well as experimenting on different types of materials from sandpaper to ceramic tile. This week students learned about convection, conduction and radiation as they observed melting chocolate chips, radiometers and lava lamps.

January Thermal Energy Project

We kicked off our thermal energy project with a design challenge. Students worked in mixed 7th/8th grade groups to design a box that would keep an ice cube solid for 24 hours! There was one successful group and a whole lot of trial, error, and learning.

December 16th Field trip!

Right before the holidays the experiential teams went on a field trip to look at street art and public art in Portland. Students researched different historical art pieces in Portland focusing on what they tell us about the time during which they were made. We also looked at modern mural art in Portland through a similar lens. This field trip was part of the Changemakers project looking at art as both a cause and driver of social change.

November 29th- December 3rd

Part of our Changemaker unit involves comparing and contrasting the way change happens today with the way it's happened in the past. This week's walking field trip took us to town hall where we talked to Town Councilors Jeremy Gabrielson, Jamie Garvin and Penny Jordan. We learned about how Town Council makes and changes rules, listens to the community and allocates the budget. Our students had great questions for the councilors! Last week the 8th graders celebrated the end of their Dystopian Fiction unit watching the Hunger Games. The 7th graders celebrated their reading of Other Words for Home with a special Middle Eastern flavored snack.

November 8th-19th

The kickoff for our new Changemakers unit featured short skits about influential people of the 20th century. Photos really don't do these skits justice but there are a few below of the mixed 7th and 8th grade skit groups. 7th graders have been turning their attention to the past, looking at different ways societies can change and how this might apply to the Middle Ages time period. 8th graders have been digging into the rights and freedoms of our current world, with an eye to those who have fought for, an protected those rights and freedoms.

Celebration of Learning!

November 4th - students presented their Aquaculture final projects to a mix of students and staff here at CEMS. Students also practiced presenting the previous day and took feedback in mixed 7th and 8th grade groups. Their projects featured: seafood food trucks, kelp bath bombs, skincare products, tea, smoothies, biofuel and algae-based plastic, just to list a few. Overall a great success! We are very proud of all their hard work!

October 18th-22nd

This week featured an incredible field trip to Portland's working waterfront. While we were there we connected with Jen from True Fin Seafood who told us about the way her seafood company is training fishermen and women to catch and kill for a higher end market. We learned a lot about the challenges that face the fishing industry here in Maine from Jen and also from Bill Needelman, the waterfront coordinator, who took us on a tour of Portland's fishing pier. We also dropped in on Running Tide aquaculture and learned about their business plan to grow kelp in order to sell carbon sequestration credits. Along the way we took photos as part of an art integration activity created by our awesome Ed Tech, Ms. Olmsted. Lastly, we walked up to the Eastern Prom and enjoyed some of Portland's finest small business food trucks.

October 3rd-15th

Guest speakers and more guest speakers! During the last two weeks, as the 7th and 8th graders have begun to shape their aquaculture businesses we've had the opportunity to meet with aquaculture entrepreneurs from Spartan Sea Farms in Freeport Maine. We also had a great panel of small business owners (also known as mom or dad to many of our 7th graders) who took time out of their busy schedules to teach our kids about customer personas, marketing, and creating products with a strong "point of difference".

September 27th- October 1st

What a busy week! On Tuesday we had a visit from Mitch of Ocean's Balance seaweed company. Mitch talked to the kids about Ocean's Balance products and process for creating new products. Students asked questions about all aspects of harvesting, preserving and creating new products with different kinds of seaweed. On Thursday we spent the morning at Wolfe's Neck Farm learning about how small scale dairy can actually be done sustainably without depleting local ecosystems. On Friday the 7th graders learned about one of our staff members who has a side business foraging and selling wild mushrooms. We went out in the woods to find and learn about mushrooms with Ms. Malm. The 8th graders will be participating in this activity next week. So many great photos! Here are just a few from our experiences this week.

September 20th-24th

This week we began the planning phase of our first cross-curricular project. Students created a pitch for an aquaculture project which they shared with the larger group and received feedback and suggestions. We did this work in our outdoor classroom spaces, taking advantage of the great weather! See the photos below.

In 7th grade LA students began reading Other Words for Home, a novel in verse about a girl living in war-torn Syria. In 8th grade LA students are reading novels about immigration and discussing them in book groups.

Week 1 and 2 update

We've been getting to know our new groups of students through some community building and outdoor exploration at Turkey Hill Farm and Kettle Cove. Our first unit is learning about food systems. Students will learn about how matter cycles through various ecosystems. We will apply this learning to our study of food systems and use this knowledge to create an original business plan for an aquaculture product. We will be weaving together science and social studies learning targets such as informational writing and research skills.

Here are a few pictures of our first activities and adventures: