Tag: #montessori
Water Quality Monitoring at the Land Campus
Twice a year, the students meet with our Stream Team Volunteer Bob Virag to monitor a section of the Bonhomme Creek which is located on the CMS Land Campus. We run multiple tests on the creek in order to determine the quality of the water. Today, our creek received a good score. Two thumbs up. We were down a few crane fly larvae and leeches but overall, the creek is healthy and flowing with life. Bob even said our creek “is one of the nicest creeks in the county. It’s like being in the Ozarks.” Thanks, Bob! We love working with you to improve the quality of our Missouri waters!
Best in Show!
Congratulations to Kaylee for receiving Best in Show at the CMS Iris Show! And Thank you to Erin Chien and Jean Morris who led the design workshop for our students and coordinated the show. This year was our largest group of student participants and many families and community members joined us. Here are a few photos from the event:
Hello, May!
The AP is ending the school year strong. We are busy with events, assignments, trimester projects, and micro-economy sales. Last week, the students hosted the 6th annual CMS Talent Show. What a success! What a talented bunch of kids! Thank you to all who participated and came to this special evening at CMS.
This week the students crafted windchimes and tables for their final Market Day. The AP finance manager reported a record year in sales for the AP INC., and returning students have already begun brainstorming ideas for next year’s products. We all agree the Land Campus has been our number 1 resource for crafting beautifully handmade products.
The class also participated in a Middle School United Nations General Assembly this week, along with students from Crossroads College Prep and Wydown Middle. The following issues were discussed: slavery in Mauritania, drug addiction in Honduras, Russian aggression in Ukraine, Uighur violence in China, and sustainable development in Africa. The group did an excellent job of participating and responding to resolutions. Way to represent!Â
Next week the class will host the Annual CMS Iris Show to be held in the CMS gym on Wednesday, May 8 from noon to 3:00 pm. This year’s theme is Elemental Irises (Fire, Water, Earth, Air). The Artistic Design class will be on Tuesday, May 7 at 12:30 PM.
We will also be planting 1,200 plants as part of our habitat restoration project next week! More photos to come! We will keep you posted along the way. Have a great weekend.
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Happy Busy Bees
The AP bee colony is happy, healthy, and buzzing with activity. The queen is thriving, fat, and happy. She has been working her way through the hive, laying eggs in every frame that is not occupied by pollen, brood, honey, or nectar. The students met with their bee mentor yesterday to check on the hive. On each frame, there are about 2,000 bees! Good news, considering the colony spent a good part of the fall recovering from the loss of their queen. Next week, we will check for swarm cells, look for the presence of Varroa destructor mites and begin planning for a second hive. It’s still a little early to say that we will have an excess of honey this fall, but it sure is reassuring to see such abundance before the nectar flow in a few weeks.
Ode to Bush-Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles must die, they are meanies,
They kill the earth and other native plants,
We must squish them into small paninis,
Chopping them all down, A wish I can’t grant,
They block sunlight, and invade big forests,
Leaf-growth is earlier for them to grow,
Nothing eats them, not even a tortoise
Growing everywhere, It’s too big to mow
It’s a lonicera that kills all plants
It grows too quickly, it is hard to tame,
This could be a 45-minute rant
Caprifoliaceae, is its family name.
Outcompeting plants like Blue False Indigo
We have a honeysuckle overflow
-Kaylee
How to Successfully Borrow Ideas from a Source
When we write Humanities research papers in the Adolescent Program, we naturally have to collect historical information from different sources (that’s the research part) since we don’t already know everything there is to know about the subject we’re researching. However, there’s a specific way to do this. In the real world, if you don’t cite the sources you used, then you’ve just done something illegal (or, at the very least, highly questionable). Well, we’re not exactly looking at jail time here, but this is very serious nonetheless.
That’s why the class had a lesson on citing sources this past Tuesday. We learned how to cite correctly to make sure we give credit where it’s due (and of course to stay in line with the school’s honor code; this is very important!). It’s a loooonnng process, but it helps our research papers gain more credibility and it gives a nod to the other researchers who brought us their discoveries.
In short, cite PLEASE.
-CK
AMPHIBIANS!!!!!!!
On Wednesday we went to the Land Campus to see if any amphibians had emerged. Only three frogs were found; we identified them as cricket frogs but we could not find any salamanders. Even though not many amphibians were found we took notes of possible amphibian habitats so we can revisit them later in the spring. We are planning to set a trap to catch amphibians and document how many species of amphibians our Land Campus has. We will use this data to see how healthy our ponds are.
-LP
Lucky Antlers!
T3 is off to a great start with a visit to the Land Campus. Students spent their time searching and exploring for limbs to use for their next micro-economy project (Montessori-inspired educational toys). The AP Winter Market Days will be held after school Wednesday and Friday next week (3 to 4 pm). Hope to see you there!
Trimester 2 presentations!
Today, the adolescents presented group projects to their parents and the Elementary and Primary classrooms of CMS. Students shared the experience and knowledge they acquired in their studies of Ancient African Kingdoms and computer programming with Raspberry Pi computers as well as the process of design and creation. While it is not possible to share all of their work from the second trimester in only one hour, the students crafted and delivered an informative and entertaining presentation. There was quite the buzz among the elementary students that were engaged in learning about the work of the adolescents. Well done, adolescents!
Chesterfield Montessori Adolescent Program 