Visit with Laurie D-Compost update

Folsom students hosted Laurie D. today, who presented composting to students. Students experienced "hands-on" activities such as creating a base for the composter using brown materials, such as the Burlington Free Press. The Free Press makes an excellent choice because it is printed with vegetable based inks. Students also learned to mascerate eggs shells with a mortar and pestle, which provides Calcium for the composter and is important for maintaining the pH balance. Students also learned to chop household waste scraps, such as corn stalks and kiwi rinds. Students finally added water but Laurie ensured that the students paused to consider the source of water. She commented that many local water supplies contain additives, such as chlorine, which can negatively impact uses of compost in gardens, which is our long term goal.

After the "hands-on" activities, students joined Laurie on a site walk to evaluate several possible sites for our future composter. She advised the students to consider the impact of sunlight, water drainage from buildings and ease of use throughout the year.

More than anything else, however, she challenged the students to critically consider both our model for composting and the connection between our compost, our garden and our food.

Doors to the Future

A member of the UVM Project SEED team visited our school today to share the model their project, Doorways! Project SEED is a partnership between teachers: Paul Fitzgerald, Matthew Duquette and Jeremy Flax and a team of undergraduate engineering students in the design course, which is taught by Mike Rosen. A Federal Grant funded the project and provided the students with seven netbooks, mindstorms software and some new NXT robots.

The  project aims to present GISU students the opportunity to modify and program a robot to open a series of doors using materials form both the lego kits and from common hardware tools. The project focuses on the structure function relationship from the Vermont GCE's in life science, which states that students should understand that there is a relationship between how a structure is used and its shape. For example, ears are shaped to funnel sound into the inner ear because the ear is for hearing. The engineering students hope that students will transfer their understanding of structure and function with robots to biological systems.

Students expressed excitment over the challenges and opportunities presented to them. Three students, and their families, from the Folsom School have been invited to attend the Capstone Presentations at UVM on 5/4, when the UVM students will present their final projects.

Tanye Lee Stone Visit 5/4 at 10:30 AM

Thanks to Mrs. Hayes, who won a Clif Grant, the 7/8 team will be able to meet with Tanya Lee Stone. In preparation for this visit, students will read sections from Almost Astronots and The Good, The Bad and the Barbie. These books reflect upon the impact of society on the identify of women and their roles/opportunities in society.

  

Bug Life

Each year, I challenge students to reflect on the bug life problem. The problems runs as follows:

A bug lives on a number line. On its birthday, it must toss a coin and move positive one for heads or negative one for tails. The bug will die when it gets to either -2 or +2. How long will the bug live?

This is a classic problem in binomial probability so the students have many different points of entry. Some students play the game by hand ten or more times and find the average lifespan. This is generally around 3.6 years. These students also notice that the bug only dies on even turns.

Other students enter the problem through the use of Pascals Triangle. This allows students to calculate the number of pathways that would allow a bug to live and to compare this to the total possibilities. The students generally discover that the bug's liklihood of survival drops, by about half, every two turns.

Some students accept the challenge to write a computer program to run. I provide all of the students with TI Basic programs and Logo programs to help the students consider this problem. The programs are saved for the students on the school network. This year, however, was the first year that a student used a Scratch program.

The students learn Scratch through the Tech Savy kids program, run my Mrs. Hayes afterschool on Tuesdays. Here is a screen shot of the program and the code!

Hacker Trail Photos

Students experienced westward expansion in social studies class through a guided simulation, The Hacker Trail. In the simulation, students must select specific goods to bring with them on their westward migration and then students are given choices to make along the way. The outcome of those choices may be determined by chance, through the use of a coin toss, coin throw or a dice roll. Some students have formed alliances, others have attacked one another and some have branched out on their own.

In order to more fully embrace the experience, students dressed in western regalia, including wide brimmed hats, collared shirts, flannel, jeans and boots.

Acid Base Model Lab

Screen Shot from Second Day Analysis

Introduction

Methods

In class today, our teacher constructed a chemical gun for us. The gun used 2 ml of 1 M HCl with 8 ml of tap water to produce a 10 ml solution with a pH of 2.76. We measured the ph using a Vernier pH probe, CBL2 and a graphing calculator. 

These materials were placed inside a plastic test tube. The water solution was covered with vegetable oil, which floated on top of the water because it was less dense. The oil also did not react with either the acid or the baking soda that was placed on top of it.

During the next step, our teacher placed 6 grams of baking soda on top of the oil layer so that the baking soda would not react with the acid.

Finally, a rubber stopper was placed inside the test tube. My teacher then shook the test tube vigorously and I could hear and see that a gas was being produced. When my teacher released his finger over the top of the rubber stopper, it flew away.

Another student videoed the rubber stopper flying through the air so that we could measure the speed of the rubber stopper using frame by fame video analysis with Tracker Pro. 

In order to analyse the video, we had to first change the file extension so that tracker would open the video. Then, we opened the video and placed a ruler inside of it. We could tell that the video was distorted by changes in perspective, which made the video difficult to accurately measure.

Nevertheless, we then proceeded to add a point mass and we marked three frames of movement of the rubber stopper.

Data

	Start	End
pH of  water solution	2.76	6.4

Chemical Reaction

Na (CO3)2 + HCl -> NaCl + H2O + CO2

Conclusions

In this lab, we observed an acid base reaction that changed an acidic solution into a less acidic solution by releasing hydrogen gas. We know this happened because the pH changed from 2.76 to 6.7, which is a change on the order of 10,000 free hydrogens (H+) (for every hydroxide (OH-)) were released from the solution. This also proves that we formed water.

We also know we formed a gas, which we think is CO2 because we saw the bubbles and the pressure caused the rubber stopper to fly through the room.

We know we formed salt because we boiled a sample of water from the heterogenous mixture that resulted from the experiment. When the liquid was removed, the beaker was covered with salt crystals.

The carbon dioxide gas expanded quickly and built pressure inside the test tube, which is why the rubber stopper flew away. Eventually, the forces holding the stopper in place were less than the forces of the gas wanted to expand as more and more gas compressed the existing gas.

This labs shows that a chemical equation can be used to produce mechanical forces as a result of the properties of gas. We also illustrated that differences in density and solubility can be used to prevent chemical reactions. This is like a cell membrane blocking the free movement of materials inside our outside of a cell.

We also noticed that there was extra baking soda on the bottom of the test tube. We realized that the acid must have been the limited reagent because we ran out of it first, which allowed for left over baking soda. 

Table design

We are trying to design a table that will be stable for holding waste, easy to store( folding), easy to clean and attractive. We would like the table to be able to accommodate two trays and the waste buckets. Our model table was wide enough at 27.5". Similarly, our model table was long enough at 70".

We would like to either build a table or modify a table that we can purchase. Students and their parents are encouraged to work together on this project.


















Two students, partnered from both the 5/6 and the 7/8 team worked on developing a 3-D rendering of the school for our presentation to Laurie D. from the Vermont Compost Association tomorrow.  The students elected to work on the project and the teams re-arranged the students' schedules so that they would have close to three hours (from both science and math classes) to work on the project today.
Their model includes not only the original 3-d table, which is inside the cafeteria, but it contains a mock-up of the future garden. The use of 3-d modeling software allows us to consider different systems and helps us to identify problems in our current systems.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2011 VT State Chess Tournament Press Release

Among the nearly 200 students, from across Vermont, that gatherer for the 24th Annual Chess Championship were eight students from Grand Isle County. Evan Pidgeon, South Hero, competed in the kingergarten competition.  C.C. Hinds, Grand Isle, competed in the first grade. Quinn Pidgeon and Leo Chatkin, both of South Hero, competed in the third grade.  Zac Hinds, of Grand Isle, competed in fourth grade. Herbert Dufree, Grand Isle, competed in sixth grade. Jack Clain, South Hero, finished fourth in the 7/8 division  and Eli Hinds, of Grand Isle, finished second in the 7/8 division. Eli’s play places him in consideration for a birth at nationals, which is guaranteed to the Vermont middle and high school champions. Fortunately for Eli, he has another year at this level of play.

Integrated Arts Academy Visit

Two students and I met with Ryan Fitzgerald this past Friday to learn about how composting is completed at the Integrated Arts Academy (IAA). The IAA has a little more than 200 students from across the City of Burlington. The IAA shared very little with Stowe's program.

IAA's was funded through a district wide initiative and a contract with Rauthier waste disposal and Chittenden solid waste. This contract provides the school with five large compost totes, which are collected twice weekly and hauled to the Interval. Similarly, this contract provides biobags, buckets, and bins for the storage and movement of waste.

Ryan stepped in last spring to help the IAA realize the benefits of the existing contract. He set-up a small composting group, arranged for school training and planned the system, which included parent volunteers.

This system operates in a permanent cafeteria and uses a parent designed and constructed table to help the students sort waste into five categories: liquid waste (which is composted at Intervale), recyclable waste (this school gets milk in plastic containers), bottle tops (these are sent to a company like Terra Cycle that converts the tops to bottles), trash waste and compost. (illustrated to the left)


 Behind each station is a student with tongs and an apron. These students assist in the act of sorting waste and use to tongs to correct any mistakes.
This is possible, in part, because the students have
a half hour for lunch, which allows them plenty of time to eat and to then help. Additionally, children who helped out receive a temporary tattoo as a reward.

(sign up sheet is listed to the left)









This image illustrates the content of the liquid waste bucket. It contains mostly chocolate milk and a frozen dessert that came in a recyclable container. The students were expected to peel the foil off of these containers before recycling the container and before throwing the foil away.














This illustrates the recycling bin during this lunch, which is quite full. Students receive their milk in these plastic containers.












This illustrates the bottle tops. These are saved and mailed in prepared packages to the company that recycles them.

















I was surprised that the cafeteria uses plastic forks and knives, which appeared to be the bulk of the trash.











Likewise, biodegradable trays appeared to be the bulk of the compost.










Before we left, Ryan engaged us in a skit and a game. He explained that students from BHS had performed a recycling play when composting started in November. He mentioned several memorable characters from the play, such as the Wicked Witch of the Waste!

The skit that was performed by the students began with the students role playing a typical lunch. One of the students was the teacher and others students played naughty students. The students then started to dispose of their waste when a trash monster appeared and dumped all of the waste on the floor. The heros challenged one another to pick up the waste properly and the winner would be finished first. The students then broke into two relay teams where each leg was allowed to pick up two pieces of waste and to properly sort it.

Overall, the quality of student involvement was superb. Likewise, the integration of drama was integral to the student understanding of the sorting process. I believe this would be an essential component of any training we would do with the students.  The use of plastic bottles for milk should be explored because our current waste is largely milk cartons, which are not recyclable nor are then compostable.

Our next step is to develop a plan to present to Laurie Decesere, who will be visiting this coming Friday. She is the regional trainer for the Vermont Compost Association. I hope that she will be able to troubleshoot our plan when she visits and help us anticipate problems we did not recognize.

We plan to have a proposal to present to Mrs. Lemieux, Chef Bob and Cecile and Mr. Berard on the Wednesday after April recess.

Trip to Stowe for Composting Site Visit

Mrs. Pidgeon visited Stowe Elementary school on Monday in order to observe their compositing practices. She was delighted by their easy system, which placed a staff member and some fifth graders in charge of their procedures. Their system has been developed over the past nine years. They use three large composters, placed close to the school for year-round access. The school overcame several issues we face, such as smell, animals and implementation. Among the many interested discoveries was the magentic ring in their trash to keep silverware from enter the wast cycle. 

 The top of the recycling can indicates which materials are or are not acceptable for recycling.

 These two receptacles receive all of the solid waste that can be recycled. The Stowe school analyzed their solid waste with the Solid Waste Association of Vermont and discovered that as much as 50% of their waste  could have been recycled.

In the image below, the single blue bin collects all of the non-compost, non-recycling solid waste from all 400 students.

 Below, the magnetic catching device is depicted. This device keeps silverware out of the trash.

 This shows students mixing the composter, which takes place regularly. Next to the composter are leaves, which are a necessary source of carbon. The students collect leaves in the fall and place them in bags for use throughout the year.

Solar Array Display Study

Our solar panels have been installed and are generating power!

I took a group of students to observe the display today. We ran our first two experiments and could almost immediately observe a reduction in power consumption when computers were turned off.

This picture shows a group of students by the display.




The main display is illustrated in this image. The dial shows the amount of power that is being generated. This changes throughout the day and is directly related to the amount of radiation that hits the panels. The ration is also displayed to the left of the main display.

This display illustrates the three banks of solar panels. Each bank operates at roughly the same. However, if one bank were to do out, it would be evident on this display. This information could be used an in initial step in trouble shooting the array.

This image illustrates the large scale units for the building analysis. Ultimately, this will provide compiled data, which will help us identify long term trends and whether individual days are outliars.

This display shows our current energy consumption. This display might be the most important because it is the measured element we can control. Each of the circuits on the main fuse box is listed in this display, which allows us to observe, in almost real time, the load on a particular circuit. Thus, when we turned the library computers off, we saw a from from around 7 to 3 KWatts load on that circuit. The bank of lights in the lobby also produced a drop when they were turned off, but it was only .1 KWatts.

We will be working more and more with the array in the coming months. I am optimistic that an 8th grade student will take on the analysis as an exit goal.

Science Song

Physical Changes

Mass, weight, Density, state,

Mass

Is a measure of matter

Weight is similar

With gravity

Go to the moon

Mass stays as is

But the weight you lose

Will not be missed

There’s a big difference

Between mass and weight

Between mass and weight

Between mass and weight

When it floats,

Or when it sinks

It’s because of density,

Mass over V

Things sink or float

Because of density,

Because of density,

Because of density

Physical change is like

State, or density,

State or density,

State or density

A Solid,

Vibrates in place,

but not a liquid

is slides away

then there’s gas

diffusing free

you can contain it

but up goes T

If T goes up,

so does P

The only way to balance them

Is by changing v

The triple point

Is where all three

States co exist

With pressure and T

Matter has three states,

Based on temperature and pressure

Based on temperature and pressure

A mixture is

Physically combined

It might be all the same

Or look different

A solution is

 a liquid mix

Solutes go into

A solvent

Homogeneous,

Means all the same,

Heterogeneous

Differences are plane

Physical changes are like…

State, Mixtures and solubility

State, Mixtures and solubility

State, Mixtures and solubility

Temperature

Measures the average speed

Of a molecule

We cannot see

Kelvin thought

All motion would stop

If it got cold enough,

Like Absolute zero

Thermal energy

Conducts with solids,

But not convection,

Only with fluids

And across space

There is radiation

It moves in waves

Across the spectrum

A wave,

Is pretty clear,

They can reflect

From a mirror

And in a cup,

A pencil bends

It is not a trick,

It is refraction

First radio,

Then infra-red

Roy-g-biv,

UV, X and gamma

Thermal energy,

Conducts, convects and lights

Conducts, convects and lights

Conducts, convects and lights

Nature has,

Four great forces

Electromagnetic,

Strong, weak and gravity

Steven Hawking

Is hoping that

He can find unity

With a single particle

Newton saw,

Matter does not like change,

At rest, it stays at rest

If moving, keep going

And where it goes,

It based on the forces

Vectors show how

They interact

Finally,

There are opposites

A balance for each push

They always react

Mechanical force means,

Opposites, inertia or vectors

Opposites, inertia or vectors

Opposites, inertia or vectors

Mendeleev ordered the elements

Based on periods,

Like atomic number, mass and electronegativity*

This made him guess

There were many more

In order to find them,

We used a particle accelerator!

Madam Curie,

Won two nobel prizes

For discovering,

radiactivity

Bohr noticed that atoms,

Make most sense

With a protons and neutrons,

in the nucleus,

Surrounding those,

Were electrons

Existing in shells

To make chemical bonds

Atomic number

Needs only protons,

But not the mass

It needs also neutrons

A compound

Has different elements

But a molecule

Can be the same

Atoms combine

To make octet

They lower their energy

Or enthalpy

Matter is Made

from atoms, which make molecules

from atoms, which make molecules

from atoms, which make molecules

Electricity,

Is a charge,

Conductors pass it along,

Insulators won’t

Rub   a balloon

Or drag your feet

Your can collect charges

Static electricity

Like charges repel

Opposites attracts

Store enough of them

And they’ll react

A battery

Uses metals and acid

The chemistry

Sets electrons free

A series circuit,

Connects end to end,

But parallel,

Means between

Add a load,

The voltage stays

But the current

It drops away

Magnets can be,

Permanent or temporary,

Magnets are made,

Al, Ni, Co, Fe

A field,

Exerts a force,

Like static, magnetic

And Gravity of course

We all live inside a bunch of fields…

 

Plants make sugar,

From light from the sun,

In the chloroplast

Is where its done

Photosynthesis,

Uses water and carbon dioxide

to make sugar,

 which is energy

Everything,

Even you and me,

Has mitochondria

For energy

Respiration,

Takes oxygen and sugar

Breaks sugar down,

Into carbon dioxide and ATP

All things come

From cells with organelles,

From cells with organelles,

From cells with organelles,

Gregor Mendel,

Studied peas,

He selectively bred them,

in a Monastery,

he was the first,

to document

that traits come as genes

with some dominant

heterozygous,

means two different alleles

homozygous means

both are the same

The genetic code,

Genes often have,

Alleles or forms

We get two of them,

Some traits are dominant,

Darwin noticed,

Everything comes from parents,

Almost everything,

Use sex to make variety

But selection,

Produces rarity

And mostly commonly,

Extinction

Our bodies,

Are organized,

Cells, tissues, organs

Systems unify

A disease,

Like a virus or bug

The rock cycle,

Begins below

in the core of the earth

where Igneous flows

But it gets weathered

And dropped to the sea

Where pressure transforms

Into sedimentary

And when faults move,

The rocks get pressed

Without heat

Into metamorphic

Water evaporates

into the atmosphere

It cools as it rises

Condensing onto a chair

The warm equator

Drives air sky high

The freezing poles,

Drives air down low

The air moves around

In predictable ways

Forming circulation cells

That currents obey

Within the sea,

The same is true

Currents result from hot and cold

Like kuroshio

These physical changes,

Produce climate

Like the weather and tides

They never quite

Abiotic forces are like

Rocks, water and wind

Rocks, water and wind

Rocks, water and wind

The earth changed,

From the heavens

The mysterious forces

Keep us even

Oceans rise and fall

Because of the moon,

Pulling water toward it,

As we spin away

Our magnetic field

Pushes solar winds away

Its keeps our atmosphere

Right in bay

And the ozone,

Blocks UV

CFC’s kill it,

Our sweet O3

The axis of the earth,

Produces seasons,

Not our orbit,

It is just perfect

My very excited mother

Just served us Nine pizzas

Which is the order

Of the planets

Beyond our system,

Are other stars,

Connected by gravity

Into galaxies

All of those,

Orbits more

The universe

Is ours to explore

The earth is found inside

Systems, galaxies and the universe

Systems, galaxies and the universe

Systems, galaxies and the universe

Math Song III

To melody of the Farmer and the Dell
C
F C
G C

alt

/ \ /
c c c

f f f

c c c

g/b g/b g/b



Numbers have factors,
that make them composite or prime
the gcf is shared
and the LCM combined

counting starts us off
whole adds in zero
integers are negative
fractions, rational

associate is to pair
commute means move around
identity means make no change
inverse undoes it all

distribution is useful
you pass a value through
to every term in paranthesis
is all you have to do!

addition groups the same
multiplication does it again
exponents nest repeatedly
PEMDAS is how to begin

adding fractions is tough
the base must alike
find the LCM and use the MI
to make adding them alright

dividing by a fraction
is the same as flip and multiply
and multiplying by less than one
is more like dividing

negative times a negative is a positive
you may not divide by zero because is undefined
there aren't make other tricks to stumble with
as long as we keep this song in mind


Proportional Reasoning

ratio is part to part
fraction is part to whole
decimal is a divided fraction
and they all are rational

dimensional analysis is great
it converts units with ease
use the multiplicaite identity
and flip it to meet your needs

theoretical probability is a breeze
you make a probability tree
and consider everything
that could be a possiblity

experimental probability is fun
all you need are the results
You don't need to a tree
because you are already done!

binomial means either or
Pascal studied it a lot
he made a triangle so
we did not have to make a plot

to find a value in a row
add the pair above
the triangle grows repeatedly
and fits like a glove

combinations are subsets
they contain different things
a permutation is an arrangement
with everything contained

fundamental theorem of counting
is used for solving trials
in combations multiply
in permutations factorial

Geometry Words

Acute is less than right,
Obtuse is right plus some
A right angle makes complements
and supplements are straight*

Adjacent share a side,
Opposites are across
corresponding look the same
these truths are used in proofs

Lines go on forever,
Parallel never touch
perpendicular are right*
A transversal runs across

Equilateral is alike,
Isosceles are twins
Scalene are all different
inequality tells us when

The base is on the bottom,
altitude goes right to the vertex*
The area is ½ b*a
the perimeter is around

quadrilaterals have four sides,
they sum to 360,
and have a bunch of funny names that
are so confusing

a trapezoid has one set,
a rhombus is a tilted square
the rest are all parallelograms*
except the trapezoids

polygons have latin names
that count aloud their sides
first pentagons, then hexagons
sept, oct, nano and dec

diagonals connect the vertex,
starting sides -2
then repeat dropping one each time
factorial helps us through

sum of angles is a treat,
sides -3 times 180,
triangles make them apothem
times perimeter then divide by 2*

a pyramid has one base,
a prism is always 2
a circle makes a cone
or a cylinder for you

the edges connect the vertex,
the faces makes the sides
area sums all of them and
the volume is inbetween

linear systems of equations
have one solution or none
try to eliminate
or substitution

al-gebra means move around
but refer to your properties
or errors will abound
two column notes will rememdy

equality means take both sides
when subtracting or adding
and don't forget to us each term
if you want to multiply

area model works
where foil is a drag
just fill your L and draw the lines
first across and then go down

functions are 1:1
they pass the vertical line test
translate, transform or compose 'em
to help you achieve your best

polynomials have multiple terms
with constants and variables
they are made from monomials

linear equations perform
constant rates of change
slope is rise over run
intercept is where to start

quadratics make a U
of x to the power of two
it has two roots, one or none
an absolute value makes us blue

exponents have a base to a power
that rise up like a J
rate of change is variable
iterest uses it each day

inverse divides by x
it creates an asymptote
Xeno ran and ran and ran
boy, he has no hope!

logs approach a max
for pH in chemistry
it models population growth
in biology

Positive correlation means
when x is up, so is Y
but if y then drops
its negative

a graph helps you see
the patterns that appear
first x, then y repeatedly
keeps your axes clear

Vermont Symphony Singers

There are days when you can not take for granted the value of a small school. Today was one such day. We had a visit from some singers from the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. They taught the students about different voices and sang some gospel songs, some middle ages chants and even a fugue. But the most fun might have been when the children joined for the "Vermont State Song", "The Sugaring Song" and for "Take me Out to the Ballpark".

The video is of an African song to celebrate the return of the village hunters.

Dance Celebration

The Folsom School experienced “magic” this past Thursday evening, when nearly every student in the school performed one of their dances.  The dances emerged from academic content in each grade level and were used by teachers to help students learn or express their thinking. Research supports not only the integration of the arts as an instrument to help meet the needs of all students but the performance of such efforts elevates the students sense of the importance of their work during the school day.


Mrs. Little opened the evening with a rousing performance of the tunes, "James Bond", "Rocky" and Star Wars" by the school band. Mrs. Zaymore followed with a chorus of k-4 students and the song, 'There are many different ways to be Smart".


The k, under the direction of Mrs. Couture,  demonstrated warm-ups which melted the audience with their scarf pass and mirror. Numerous audience members commented that their pose and concentration was remarkable. 

The first and second grade students, along with both Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Vandevord, performed a heart felt sustainability dance with dramatic contrasts of levels, grace and unison. It was clear that the students movements were designed to balance different forces. 

The third grade students, directed by Dr. Robinson, performed a dance in honor of change in Vermont, which focused on the changes in land use where the students recreated the destruction of a barn and their favorite activities in Vermont. Fourth grade students, directed by Mrs Sherman, were stunning in their states of matter dance, where solids were low and slow and where liquids moved faster and high and gases higher and faster still. 

The fifth grade, with Mrs. Ames, performed a “buoyancy” dance that integrated hula hoops and water sticks as the student movements indicated that there were moving through different fluids, such as water and honey. The sixth grade performed a “moon dance” in celebration of their studies of the moon and in partnership with the first and second graders and under the direction of Mrs. Bashaw. The students illustrated the movement of the moon and inspired the audience with wonder as they donned “glow” sticks and moved in mesmorizing patterns with the gym lights off.

The seventh and eight grade students performed their math movements in three parts and partnered with Mr. Fitzgerald and Mrs. Pidgeon to choreograph their movements, which was evident in each section.

The boys performed Numbers and Operations with a “military march” theme and large percussive sounds from stomps and hockey sticks, which were integrated into each element of the performance. A group of girls developed “rythmic gymnastic” movements including cartwheels, hand stands, pirouettes and ribbons in their expression of probability and statistics. The final group of girls performed a high energy “dance team” themed movements to gymnastics for geometry and measurement that featured formations and lifts.


Middle level students also developed and read the introductions for each dance piece. The students interviewed students and teachers in order to compose their written introductions in collaboration with Mrs. Pidgeon.

The evening closed with a group dance that allowed parents and pre-schoolers to join the Folsom teachers and students on the dance floor. The evening would not have been possible without the ongoing support of the Flynn Theater, including Lida Winfield, Joan Robinson and Kim Jordan.  Financial support was received from  the Vermont Acts Council, the Bay and Paul Foundation, an anonymous family foundation.