Here are some highlights from the EF Tours Leadership Summit in Milan, Italy: The Future of Food. Our students heard from truly inspiring speakers as they navigated the problems in the food system. They paired up with other students from around the US and the world, to problem solve and make prototypes of solutions, and learned new perspectives from others around the world. It was an amazing experience.
Category: Specialists
Newton’s Revenge Roller Coaster Problem
In Algebra I, 8th graders reviewed correlation, scatter plots and trend lines by solving a fun problem about roller coaster safety. They measured their heights and compared to their reach. They also compared it to the smallest student at Saklan. They noticed a strong correlation between a person’s height and reach no matter how tall they were.
Come to flag next Friday to learn more, and see our data and graph.
Thank you Owlets for helping us solve this problem!
News from the Sports Court
Hopscotch
One week left to sign-up for the 2nd Annual Back to School Hopscotch Tournament. So far there are 40 competitors! The competition is for students 1st– 8th grades and faculty. Bouts will commence September 11 during recess and lunch, and will continue as a single elimination tournament in the weeks following until there is a champion. Get your markers ready and start hopping!
Keeping cool in the shade
The weather still feels like summer! The dog days of August are upon us; luckily The Saklan School has plenty of shade to stay cool. During these few HOT weeks, we will be exploring the rest, relaxation, and recovery phase of physical education. So far this year, the students have had some fun with our new parachute. Water bottles encouraged!
News from the Sports Court
The sign-up for the Second Annual Back to School Hop-Scotch Tournament has begun. The competition is for students 1st- 8th grades and faculty. Bouts will commence September 11th during recess and lunch and will continue as a single elimination tournament in the weeks following until there is a champion. So get your markers ready and start hopping!
Roller Coaster Project
The 8th graders culminating physics project was to design and create a roller coaster for a marble, that utilized the four forces we learned about in class, had enough momentum to fulfill a loop, and had a slow down stop. Each group used their creativity, math skills, and the scientific method to design, redesign, start over, and eventually create their coasters.
We are extremely impressed with their designs and efforts in this project. They are a great class and we are glad to see they are ready for high school!
Spanish Mural Project
Maestra Morales and Ms. Natalie are working on cross curricular material with the 5th Grade Spanish class to bridge expression through art and relevant material covered in Spanish class this year.
The mural preparation lasted weeks where the students explored symbolism, design and historical themes. The Mural project covers the history of Los Zapatistas, Standing Rock and the United Farm Workers Movement in California. The project is set to be completed by June 5th. Please come by and see it in the library soon!
Fish Dissection
As part of the 7th grade biology unit on animals, we look at different phylum found in that kingdom. We talk about the characteristics and important adaptations each have for survival. In doing so, the students take part in multiple dissections in order to learn and compare the different anatomy’s of common organisms.
So far, they have dissected a squid (part of the mollusk phylum), worm (the annelid phylum) and a sea star (a member of the echinoderm phylum). They dissected their first vertebrate, a fish, this past week. Each organism has a different circulatory system, number of hearts, different sequence of body parts, and some have no brain at all. From this, the students have been able to see how diverse all life is.
Middle School Musical
A big congratulations go out to our middle school students on their wonderful performance of The Drowsy Chaperone at Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette this past week.
If you missed the show, please click on the links below to view the photos, and watch the videos.
The Drowsy Chaperone
Flickr https://flic.kr/s/aHskVFVsg9
Youtube
Friday’s Performance https://youtu.be/sOaKo9PoEqY
Saturday’s Performance https://youtu.be/4njeewtRX8g
Eight Grade at Great America
Last Friday, the 8th grade class went to Great America to put their physics to the test by riding roller coasters and other amusement rides, determining speed, acceleration, and which forces were acting on them. Then, they applied Newtons 3 Laws of Motion to see how physics plays a key role in the design, fun and safety of roller coasters. Students timed the rides, wore accelerometers to test the amount of g-force the ride exerted on their body and filled out a packet of physics! It was a fun day and a great last 8th grade field trip!
Once back, they worked to create promotional, educational posters for their rides. Here is a sample!
Moraga Rotary Field Day
On Wednesday, students from The Saklan School participated in the Twenty-Sixth Annual Moraga Rotary Field Day: Dashiell, Bjerre, Ryan from third grade; Lindsay, Jordan, Makenna, Reese, Colin, Isabel, and Evy from fourth grade; Ben, Bianca, Leo, Rachel, and Nick from fifth grade. They competed against other schools from Moraga in five events. Good job to all the competitors the event was fun!
Makenna (4th) won gold in the softball toss and Nick (5th) won gold in the steeple race.
FRIDAY BLOG 
You must be logged in to post a comment.