Creative Projects Fuel Learning in Bayport-Blue Point

Local students showcased their knowledge at Science Expo, explored other cultures through various art media and created webpages in social studies class recently at Blue Point and Academy elementary schools and James Wilson Young Middle School. Here's a brief look at what some B-BP kids have been up to in school.

Exploring Science in Blue Point

 students explored science in motion through the school’s Science Expo, where they applied curriculum knowledge to design scientific experiments featuring various topics of interest.

Following the scientific process, students identified a problem, formulated a hypothesis, and developed a method to facilitate their experiments. They selected the necessary materials, conducted their experiments, and collected data to document their results. Based on their research, students analyzed their findings and drew academically sound conclusions.

Students displayed their projects at the Science Expo and educated attendees by explaining their experiments and experiences as young field scientists.   

Sylvan Studies Other Cultures Through Art

students explored diverse cultures through historical and contemporary art. They focused on the various forms of art through different media, from drawing and painting to collage and sculpture.

Second-grade students studied the art forms of ancient Egypt and drew self-portraits, applying distinctive styles, such as hieroglyphics. Students were also introduced to Guatemalan ceramic art. They created decorative plates with native wildlife creatures highlighted by colorful markings. In addition, students studied artists who designed traditional pieces, including Native American Parfleche bags and Aztec sunstone sculptures.

Third-grade classes learned about bas-relief sculptures and made three-dimensional images of animals on aluminum tolling metal using advanced Repousse techniques. They also learned the intricacy of Greek pottery by viewing artwork dating back more than 2,000 years. 

Southwest Native American jewelry pendants from the Navajo and Zuni tribes and totem poles from Pacific Northwest Coastal tribes inspired students to sculpt silver jewelry pieces detailed with picture writing symbols, and to illustrate totem poles with animals expressing their character traits. Students also read stories about folk artists and drew detailed folk art landscapes that depicted images of old-fashioned countrysides.   

Eighth Graders Use Technology to Showcase What They've Learned

eighth-grade students in Mr. Molinari’s social studies classes created interactive web pages on laptop computers to display their lessons on the Great Depression.  

Mr. Molinari collaborated with school library media specialist Ms. Noeldechene to develop a unit in which students accessed and evaluated information from online databases, books and websites. The project incorporated core curricular areas with 21st century learning skills, which infuse innovative learning with media, technology and life skills.

Students answered critical guiding questions on the causes, lifestyles and government practices of the Great Depression era and demonstrated their knowledge by creating a virtual world through web pages. In order to execute working web pages with supporting documents and photos, students learned design skills such as formatting backgrounds and text, uploading photos, and hyperlinking. Throughout the project, students learned the importance of finding significant, accurate sources and photos to enhance their documents and web pages.