2025-26 Achieve

September

Classroom Activity: Metric Pour and Elephant Toothpaste (Achieve, 5th and 5th Grade)

We practiced pouring in lab glassware and using the metric system, capping it off by making Elephant Toothpaste.

Classroom Activity: Oobleck! 9/22 (Everyone)

10 Gallons of Oobleck, a kiddie pool, and a lot of fun were all we needed to explore Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid.

Field Trip: Turtle Back Zoo, West Orange 9/24  (Achieve, 5th and 6th Grade)

5th and 6th graders spent a fun day at the Turtle Back Zoo. We saw lions, toucans, and bears! We got to pet sharks and stingrays. Oh my!

October

Classroom Activity: Halloween Lab: Molecular Gastronomy

We had fewer Halloween Labs this year because we had State testing on Monday and Tuesday. This year's best Halloween lab was about molecular gastronomy. We used chemistry and physics to make fruit juice caviar.

November

Classroom Activity: Hatch the Chick Class of 2025/26

4 chicks were hatched in an incubator while we waited to spoil them. Once was named after Mr. Oxley, the 8th-grade science teacher.

Assembly: Insectropolis

The folks from Insectropolis visited us for an assembly. We learned about bugs and met a live scorpion. We also got to pet a hissing cockroach, a millipede, and a tarantula!

Classroom Activity: Peanut Butter and Jelly Lab

Students write step-by-step directions for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as practice in the importance of clear language. We then follow the directions literally - chaos ensues.

Assembly: Unique Creatures

The folks from Unique Creatures visited us for an assembly. We learned about different animals.

JANUARY

Classroom Activity: Tardigrade Day

We take a day to learn about this resilient little creature and what makes it so special. As scientists, we document our observations so others can verify our findings -  so students sketched the organisms and wrote descriptions of the tardigrades ("Draw What You Saw").

Classroom Activity: Hatching Zebra Danios

Students observe the development of a Zebra Danio embryo in its egg. We discuss how organs and organ systems develop in another vertebrate.

February

Classroom Activity: Pig Heart Dissection

We celebrated Valentine's Day by dissecting pigs' hearts. 

Field Trip: Maple Sugaring 2/12 

We visited Howell Living Farm to learn how maple syrup is made.

March

Classroom Activity: ARTEMIS II

We celebrated NASA's historic flight around the moon with some in-class activities.

Field Trip: Big Rusty the Troll

We visited Thomas Dambo's troll, Big Rusty, and then built our own from recycled cardboard.

April

Assembly: Rizzo's Wildlife

Snakes, Gators, Reptiles, and furry friends!

Classroom Activity: Operation Egg Drop

Students spent a few days building a landing craft to protect their raw-egg passenger when it was dropped from our second-floor science classroom window. It is a fun, hands-on way to explore gravity and force.

May

Assembly: Field Day/Inflatables

A fun morning battling in the inflatable arena.

June

Assembly: Silly Billy The Lizard Guy

A fun morning battling in the inflatable arena.