What’s Happening
From September’s opening day to June’s closing ceremonies, we document and share events from all over our campus in an attempt to continuously communicate all the diverse goings-on at The Unquowa School. From school-wide events, assemblies, visiting presenters and other highlights from around campus, here’s a sample of what’s happening…
The Science of Mentos and Coke!
Posted by Carlene Gordon
The science of Mentos and Coke…Why does Coke explode when Mentos Candies are added? Fourth graders hypothesized it was the sugar…or maybe the motion of the candies dropping…or maybe something else. We needed to find out. As we did all year long, we discover in science by using the scientific method. First we researched and discovered it was most likely the rough texture of the candies. We then headed outdoors and added Mentos to Coke and watched the eruptions. We hypothesized that IF it was the rough texture of the candies, then sand would create eruptions as well. As soon as the Mentos supply was depleted, we gathered sand and tried again. The observation? Sand created even higher eruptions than the Mentos. Conclusion, it is the rough texture on the candies or the sand grains which provides a surface for the dissolved carbon dioxide to form carbon dioxide bubbles to form so abundantly that they forcefully overflow the bottle. Great last science class, fourth graders! We hope you keep questioning, researching and investigating over the summer!
Making Math Fun!
Posted by Faith Barbuto
Student Literary and Art Magazine – Pen & Paper, Volume 12
Posted by Eric Snow
The editorial staff of Pen & Paper is incredibly proud to present the twelfth edition of our student literary and art magazine. As in years past, these published poems, short stories, photographs, and artwork from students in Grades 5-8 are incredible examples of the creativity, passion, and craftsmanship of Unquowa’s Upper School student body. We are so proud to share this with you, and we hope you enjoy this year’s edition, which we have entitled, “How The Light Gets In.” Click Here To View The Full Issue
Horseshoe Tagging!
Posted by Karen Engelke
Unquowa Kindergarten and Grade 4 students visited the beach in Southport this week to help tag horseshoe crabs as part of a research program at Sacred Heart University called Project Limulus. Graduate students working on the project met us at the beach. They shared their knowledge about the horseshoe crab with our students and taught them how to tag them. It was such a huge success that the Project Limulus students ran out of tags!! All in all Unquowa Students tagged 25 horseshoe crabs and learned so much about this remarkable creature.
Earth Science at Audubon Milford Point
Posted by Craig Knebel
The sixth grade travelled to Audubon Milford Point to get a look at how Earth science (6th grade focus), affects Life Science (the 7th grade focus). Students collected and studied jellyfish, crabs, sand worms, clams and mussels and snails and evidence of other life in the tidal zone. They also got to explore and just be a kid at the beach!
Solar Oven S’Mores
Posted by Carlene Gordon
Fourth graders used their knowledge of passive solar design to create something delicious! After a review of thermal energy transfer and passive solar design from our STEM projects back in March, fourth graders decided to put this knowledge to the test. Could radiation from the sun bake s’mores? In the Makerspace we carefully, measured, cut, taped, and folded ordinary pizza boxes and a few other items, each with their own design purpose. The end result was a solar oven. We filled the ovens with graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows and set them out in the warm May sunshine to cook. After a couple of hours we returned to find an oooey, gooey tasty treat made by the sun’s radiation, absorption properties of black paper and the reflective properties of foil.
