Ancient India

The 6th Grade classes have been learning about Ancient India, its culture, religions and advancements that have influenced the world.

Did you know that Ancient India created the first universities in the world around 700 BCE, over a thousand years before other parts of the world. They understood the importance of education and bringing together the best thinkeres in many diciplines together to share ideas, learn from each other and to teach. During the Gupta Empire, often referred to as the Golden Age of India around 400 CE, they created a huge network of universities, some as large as 10,000 students, and people came from other areas of Asia to study there. 

It was this understanding of the imporatance of education and sharing ideas that made them leaders in medicine, chemistry, mathematics and astronomy. The great mathematician and astronomer Aryabahtta calculated the Earth revolved around the Sun and turned on its axis, plus was able to predict lunar and solar eclipses 1,200 years before Galileo's same calculations and (at the time) controversial claims. 

The U.S. Constitution

After studying the American Colonial period, the events that led to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War, the 7th Grade class has started learning about the U.S. Consititution. It's always exciting, and interesting to teach the Constitution during a Presidential election period as there are real examples to show the students, like the Electoral College, and the terms of elected officials in the Senate and House of Representatives. 

Right now the students are learning about how a bill becomes a law, and are simulating the process in class.  They have been divided into a House of Representatives and a Senate. Both met in committee and drafted a potential law for our class. So far, both have approved a bill in their chambers that were then sent to the other side for approval. In both cases the  proposed bills did not pass in the other chamber and were sent back for revisions. This caused a lot frustration on both sides, but it is a great example of what actually happens in Congress, and why it is so hard for a bill to actually become a law. They will spend some time back in their committees next week seeing if they can agree on revisions to their bill, and have it sent to the "president" (me) for potential approval or veto.