Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Volcano Pageant

Methodist Children’s Home School had its first Volcano Pageant on October 3 as part of a two-week project in World Geography. The ninth grade students learned about volcanoes and built their own volcano models to erupt in front of a panel of judges.
During the two-week project, students watched videos of volcanic eruptions and learned about types of volcanoes. In Mrs. Deemer’s class, students researched and designed their models after specific volcanoes. Mr. Grisham’s students researched and explored composite volcanoes.

Results of the Volcano Pageant were:  Best In Show: Billy, Hawa, and Jennifer; Best Use Of Natural Resources:  Jorea, Destiny M., Sara, and Russell; Best Overall Appearance: Mikayla, Patrick, and Matthew D.;  Best Geographic Detail: Matthew N., Ja’Vianne, and Jayden; Best Information: Diego, Aaron W., and Jacob; Best Labels: Quentin, Emma, and Tarayia; Best Eruption: Mae, Juden, and Tamika; Best Team Work: Tomas, Stephen, and Raymond.

Mrs. Deemer and Mr. Grisham said student engagement levels increased throughout the project, which allowed students to learn to work together as a group and overcome problems. All of the students were able to show their creative side and ingenuity in finding and using natural resources outside the classroom to enhance the authenticity of their volcano.

“Seeing students absorbed in content or taking pride in their work is exciting for everyone: parents, unit staff, students, and especially for us, the teachers,” said Mrs. Deemer. “The Social Studies department will continue to develop and implement a hands-on/project-based approach to exploring World Geography.”

The class said they would like to thank all of the home units and school staff members who donated boxes and/or newspapers to help with this project.


 



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