Issue link: https://trevordayschool.uberflip.com/i/1504410
Over the past three years, sweeping changes have greatly improved the 5th-grade science curriculum. A big reason for this has been a schedule change that increased science classes from three 45-minute classes per week to five 60-minute classes per week. This has been a real game changer for students to learn more about science! The best approach to inquiry-based projects is for students to have the time to explore, tinker, and work on solutions to challenges they encounter. More than doubling their time in science allowed that to happen. This year, another exciting change for the 5th-grade curriculum started with an idea from Division Director Andy Wilson: "Students should have a dedicated day and time to work on STEAM-based projects in the Makerspace." Consequently, he enlisted the help of former teacher Shelley Miller, a wizard at making the master schedule work for the Lower School. Ms. Miller taught at Trevor for 26 years and is often asked to provide support in various capacities. Together, Mr. Wilson and Ms. Miller approached me with an idea of including Makerspace in the science curriculum. Having been on a committee for many years to help create a Makerspace in the Lower School, I was excited about this idea as well as having the opportunity to collaborate and team-teach with Mike Rios, Lower School Educational Technology Integrator, who runs the Makerspace. Mr. Wilson has always encouraged and supported interdisciplinary projects and collaboration between faculty members. To get the ball rolling, Mr. Rios and I wrote a faculty grant to integrate the current 5th- grade curriculum and to develop the Makerspace curriculum. With Head of School Scott Reisinger's enthusiastic support and approval, we started working during the summer of 2022 to develop new and exciting projects for the 5th graders. One of the projects we developed was the Terrarium Project—an interdisciplinary collaboration involving science, art, and the Makerspace. TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 27 INSIDE TREVOR TREVOR TRANSLATES FEATURE AR TICLES ALUMNI