Student Life · January, 2010
Village School Winter Concert postponed to a later date.
Interdisciplinary Days, continued: Model Airplanes
From model helicopters to the Wright brothers to flying our Super Delta Dart airplanes and (of course) even ice skating, interdisciplinary days were a success. In spite of weather that precluded a trip to the Air and Space museum at Dulles Airport, we managed to have an enriching and enjoyable three-day experience. On Wednesday, we had films, speakers, skit writing, and hands-on projects to fill the day. Every student built a balsa wood and tissue paper model airplane, each plane powered by a rubber band driven propeller. On Thursday, model planes were decorated and students performed their skits, all of which depicted important events from the history of flight. Ice skating filled Thursday afternoon. Friday morning, students built and flew many designs of paper airplanes – from simple to quite sophisticated. Friday, the entire school traveled to UVA’s Slaughter Recreation Center where we tested our planes. Numerous planes flew the length of the gym (about 100 feet) and would certainly have gone further had space allowed. Others flew in a more circular pattern and managed to stay aloft for nearly 30 seconds. And then, many others had flights of a somewhat shorter nature. In all, it was a good time with much learning.
Click on the top picture to watch a video of the girls making and flying their model airplanes. Click on the bottom picture to see photos from the experience.
Helicopter and Airplane Guest Speakers
During Interdisciplinary Days, two professors from the University of Virginia School of Engineering spoke to Village School students about flight. Dr. George Cahen talked about helicopters, while Dr. Lloyd Barrett spoke on airplanes.
Click on the picture above to see photos of the guest speakers.
Guest Dance Instructors
This week, our dance teacher was busy teaching in New York City. In her place, two instructors from the Blue Ridge Irish Music School taught the 7th and 8th graders. The girls had a great time learning a new style of dance.
Click on top picture to watch a video of the 8th graders dancing and the bottom picture to see photos of both the 7th and 8th graders dancing.
Interdisciplinary Days: Village School Takes Flight
After the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Village School started the second semester with Interdisciplinary Days. The theme was “Village School Takes Flight.” A field trip to the Air and Space Museum was planned for Thursday, but was canceled due to inclement weather. We will take that trip in February. Also, we constructed model airplanes and tested the distance they could fly. We hosted a number of speakers and watched a DVD on the Wright Brothers. In addition, the students performed skits on various great moments in flight.
“The History of Flight” Skits
The girls created skits about important historical figures and events regarding the history of flight. These included Daedalus and Icarus, the Montgolfier brothers, the Hindenburg disaster, the Wright brothers, landing on the moon, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart.
Click on the top picture to watch excerpts from the skits. Click on the bottom picture to see more photos from the skit.
Ice Skating
Because we were unable to take our trip to the Air and Space Museum on Thursday, we substituted a fun afternoon of ice skating at the Downtown Ice Park.
Click on the top picture to watch a video of the girls ice skating. Click on the bottom picture to see more photos of ice skating.
6th Grade Houses
This quarter, Ms. Giacherio’s 6th-grade math class has been very busy. Our latest project has been developing a scaled-down version of a chosen room from our house. The choices varied from bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens. Once we had all chosen, we went home and took the dimensions of that room. Our scale was 1 foot = ½ inch.
We then went into school and got to work. Since that day, we have learned a lot about dimension, architecture, home décor, and how many reenactments of the Titanic we can withstand! We’ve managed to discover surprising skills that we would never have been able to learn otherwise. As we progressed through the project, our rooms slowly built up—until they were almost a perfect match. You can also tell a person’s personality through the project; this was a good chance for us to even “re-decorate” our rooms. We’ve had a lot of fun with this project, and learned a lot in the process. –Ariana Smith
Click on the picture above to watch a video of the 6th graders building their rooms.