Trials, Bias, Prejudice, Baltimore, and Polygons

Some social issues that we've been exploring in class recently have given some context for the recent events in Baltimore. 

Mars Out of Time (or "MOOT.")

Belgian cartoonist Hergé has recently joined our class. 

Over the next several weeks, you'll be hearing a lot about the planet Mars, and something we call "MOOT." 

"MOOT" stands for Mars Out of Time, which is a new spin on one of our favorite annual projects. For many years, Summers-Knoll students have had the opportunity to participate in Place Out of Time (or "POOT"), a simulation run by the University of Michigan. The idea behind Place Out of Time is brilliant: What if we could bring the great (and lesser) minds of history to ponder a contemporary issue? 

Cryptozoology: pondering Big Foot

Our current theme is Mythology, and we've spent much of this week studying the (pseudo)science of cryptozoology, focused largely on the myth of Big Foot. 

We kicked off the week by viewing some infamous footage:

Place Out of Time: The importance of reflections

Our Place Out of Time experience is nearing its conclusion, and the middle school gathered this morning to begin talking about the value of reflection. We opened with a few quotes. The first two come from John Dewey.

• “We do not learn so much from experience as we do from reflecting on our experience.”
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• “Perhaps the greatest of all pedagogical fallacies is the notion that a person learns only the particular thing he is studying at the time.” 
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• – John Dewey

(New vocabulary words for most of the group: "pedagogical" and "fallacies.")

The third came from a source a little more familiar to many of us: 

Place Out of Time banquet!

We kicked off the week by attending the annual Place Out of Time banquet on Monday! We'll be posting a more detailed write up soon. In the meantime, take a look at this amazing gathering of luminaries from throughout time: 

Cities topics presentations - The early 1900s

Our theme for January and February is Cities, and one of the ways that we've been exploring the topic is by learning about the growth of Midwestern American cities over the course of the twentieth century. 

Last week, students paired up to research and prepare short presentations on a variety of topics relevant to cities at the turn of the century (that's 1900, not 2000). Topics included Henry Ford and the $5 Day, Women's Suffrage, The Great Migration, The Toledo War, and Life on a Farm in 1900. They spent the week working with their partners, then gave their presentations on Friday.  

Luke and Karenna talk about the history of the importance of the railroad in Michigan.