Our second and third graders are currently exploring how to make our busy streets safer for wildlife, inspired by P-22, the famous mountain lion who crossed multiple freeways to reach Griffith Park. To better understand the obstacles wildlife face, the second graders are building model freeways and planning safe crossing structures, while third graders are constructing wildlife crossings for intersections closer to home in Arcadia and La Cañada. Both grades will be visiting the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in November to see how professionals have addressed these very issues. It's a lesson in engineering, teamwork, and respect for the creatures with whom we share our neighborhoods.
In the fourth grade, students are working on a project with historical and practical roots: aqueduct and dam engineering. After a recent trip to the St. Francis Dam Disaster site, they’ve learned not only about the successes but also the tragic failures of water engineering in California. Armed with this knowledge, our budding engineers are now designing model aqueducts that could, in theory, help supply a city with the water it needs. In December, they’ll take on the challenge of building dams, considering what went wrong at St. Francis and applying lessons of design integrity to their creations.
In addition to the wildlife crossings and aqueduct projects, our other grades are also fully immersed in hands-on challenges. Our first graders are hard at work designing clever tools to help them reach things that are typically out of reach, sparking early creativity and problem-solving skills. Meanwhile, fifth graders are stepping back in time to learn the traditional arts of papermaking and quill writing, gaining an appreciation for how materials were crafted in the 18th century, which aligns with the social studies curriculum. In sixth grade, students are engineering prosthetics for injured wildlife, creating models of limbs to improve survival chances for animals like deer, bobcats, and owls. Every project ignites curiosity and develops real-world skills, making learning both meaningful and enjoyable!
We encourage you to ask your child about what they're working on in Design Thinking—whether it’s building wildlife crossings, making quill pens, or imagining new ways to help our community and our ecosystem. You’ll be amazed at the ideas they have and the passion they bring to each new challenge.