Category: Middle School

Recently, Saklan’s sixth graders worked to expand their understanding of volume beyond the equation: volume = length * width * height.

The students experimented with cubic units as they explored a situation involving offices with unusually shaped bases. They quickly were able to determine that a multiplier could be used to extend the height of the office towers much more efficiently than counting. And after a class discussion of why the area of the office tower’s base was the same as the volume of the office tower when it was one unit high, the sixth graders came up with a better formula. Volume = Area of base * height.

An interesting side note: At a math teaching conference that Saul Zippin, Saklan’s Middle School Math Teacher, went to a few years ago, he attended a session about middle school students finding the volume of a parallelepiped (a parallelogram prism) that had one of the sides weighted so it would stand up, as shown in the image below. 

Researchers from the University of Illinois had filmed their students finding the volume of the prism and their outcomes. All of the students used the V = l X w X h idea. Some found the height from their desk to the top (the correct way), while about half measured the side that was the slant instead of the actual height. When it was time for questions, Saul asked how many of the students found the area of the parallelogram (the base of the prism) and then multiplied that by the height. They said that none of the students in their research did that. Interested in how Saklan students would solve this, Saul made a class set of the 3D shapes, weighted the base and asked the students to find the volume. Every student found the volume correctly! Most turned the parallelepiped on its side, found the area of the base and multiplied by the height. 

Saul noted that when students are taught to think mathematically using manipulatives and class discussions, they have a huge advantage when attempting to solve problems. 

The Saklan Middle School offers a variety of elective classes that cater to the community’s diverse hobbies and interests, which we call LBD (Learning by Doing) classes. On Thursday, February 16th, the students had the opportunity to explore Korean culture through the class “Exploring Cultures through Food.” Students learned about the various ingredients that make up a traditional Korean meal, as well as the customs and etiquette associated with dining in Korea. Students were eager to try Kim Chi, Japchae, and Tteokbokki. Before dining, the students practiced how to serve their elders while avoiding eye contact, as custom in Korean etiquette. They expressed their appreciation for learning about other cultures and their eagerness to learn more.

In addition to the Exploring Cultures through Food class, Saklan also offers classes such as Sadie’s Baking Class (8th grade student), Bookworms with Jennifer (7th-8th grade Humanities teacher), and African Drumming with Isaac (Saklan’s drumming teacher). These classes are a combination of teacher-led and student-led activities, providing students with the opportunity to make memories while learning new skills. We encourage middle school students to continue creating their own classes to teach their community.

#SaklanCreative #SaklanLearningByDoing

Saklan’s seventh-grade class has been learning about food insecurity, both in our local communities as well as throughout the United States. Although the U.S. is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we have a staggering 33 million people, including 5 million children, that are food insecure. The term “food insecure” is used to describe someone who does not have access to sufficient food or food of adequate quality to meet one’s basic needs. The primary causes of this issue are poverty, unemployment, lack of affordable housing, low income, chronic health conditions, and lack of access to healthcare. And sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic magnified these issues. Many people who never needed food support before the pandemic found themselves waiting in long lines each week at their local food banks.

So as a way to teach our seventh graders how to make a difference and help get more food to people that need it, we decided to have them volunteer at the Alameda County Food Bank. The middle school teachers are proud to report that our students worked diligently, quickly, and with great motivation. The students understood that the more yams and onions that we bagged, the more meals and people they could help. Between Saklan and another group from Kaiser (roughly 50 people), they processed 15,902 pounds of vegetables and fruit. The students helped provide 13,199 meals, which worked out to each volunteer producing 259 meals. Our students and teachers were honored to help so many in a period of only 2 hours.

Saklan’s Middle School Teachers already have plans to take the other middle school students to volunteer at the Alameda County Food Bank in the new year.

If you are interested in volunteering, please click on this link.

Who do art objects truly belong to? Over the last six weeks, the 6th graders have been seeking to answer this driving question by exploring museum bias, researching significant artifacts, and understanding different present day arguments for and against repatriation of ancient art objects.

After taking a trip to the de Young Museum to view the Ramses Exhibit, researching the significance of a chosen artifact, and speaking with experts from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Badé Museum, and Stanford University, their final milestone and public product for this unit was to select an aspect through which to answer the driving question. Some students focused on museum bias, others on big ideas around repatriation, still others on power and ethical issues in the worlds of archeology and museum preservation of ancient artifacts. You can read their manuscripts here, which have been submitted to KQED’s Youth Perspectives program for consideration to be published by KQED. 

#SaklanPBL

Middle schoolers are currently in the process of exploring the art form of charcoal drawing. They were first introduced to it by learning how to create a wide range of values through the rendering of 3-D forms. Now that they’ve built some familiarity, they’re starting to stretch their understanding of how this art material can be used.

Recently they’ve observed and analyzed the work of Heather Hansen, a performance artist who makes large, symmetrical, gestural charcoal drawings. Trained in both dance and visual art, Hansen is fascinated by using charcoal to document the movement of her body through an almost meditative process. After viewing her work and learning about her background, the students began to experiment working in her drawing style. 

Each student sat on the floor with their paper and a stick of charcoal in each hand and practiced making large, synchronized, gestural movements with their arms while drawing. Next, they teamed up with a classmate to create a second artwork where they repeated the process of the previous drawing, but had to also mirror the movement of their partners.

#SaklanCreative

The 8th graders finished their proportions unit with an activity that extended their work from the R/V Robert G. Brownlee discovery voyage with the Marine Science Institute last year. On the Brownlee, the 8th graders used a drift net to catch and examine different fish in San Francisco Bay. This year they used mathematics to figure out a population in a large body of water by taking a sample.

Their task was to determine the number of “fish” (beans) in their “lake” (a paper bag) as accurately as possible, without actually counting the fish. To do this, the 8th graders used a “net” (a small cup) to take an initial sample. They measured the number of “fish” in their sample and tagged them by replacing the red beans with white ones.

Then, they returned these tagged fish back into their lake. When they took a second sample, they counted how many tagged fish were in their sample, made a ratio, and set it equal to the ratio. Next, students solved for the unknown number of fish in the lake. The 8th graders repeated this process again. If they thought their calculations were close to the actual number of “fish” in the “lake,” they stopped and recorded their work. If they thought another sample would be helpful to get a more accurate total, they repeated the process again. Finally, they counted the total number of beans in the bag and saw how close they were to their calculations. The three groups had varied success-one was within 10% of their total, but all the groups got extra proportion practice in a real-world science application!

#SaklanMath #SaklanHandsOn

The seventh graders have been learning about DNA. They explored the traits found on DNA, learned about the human genome project to map those traits, and then studied how technology can be used to isolate traits. The seventh graders now understand how technology is used to determine genetic similarities between parents and evolutionary family lines.

The students conducted an experiment to help them understand how criminals can be caught using DNA found at a crime scene. Through the process of gel electrophoresis, students separated colored dyes and tried to find out which colors were more closely related.

Next the seventh graders will learn about genetic engineering.

#SaklanScience #SaklanHandsOn