7th and 8th Grade Students Rotate to Second Quarter Learning Opportunities
The second quarter is underway at Linn-Mar, which means our 7th and 8th grade students at Excelsior and Oak Ridge have shifted their schedules to explore a new lineup of classes through their quarterly rotations!
Students in these middle school grades take some courses like math, literacy, social studies, writing, science, health and PE throughout the school year, but each quarter they also have the chance to rotate to a quarter-long class. These learning experiences cover a variety of subjects and help our students gain hands-on learning across multiple fields. Let’s take a look at what might be new this quarter as our students rotate to a new class:
Opportunities Available for 7th and 8th Grade Students
In Linn-Mar’s Medical Detectives course, seventh grade students play the role of real-life medical detectives as they collect and analyze medical data to diagnose diseases. The students use symptoms found in case files to accurately diagnose patients with diseases, brain tumors, and to determine the source of a food poisoning outbreak in the fictional town of Montgomery Hills. If time remains, they also learn about crime scene investigation through various hands-on activities.
Some students will rotate into our district’s Design and Modeling course. This seventh grade class is a project-based, hands-on learning experience where students explore the engineering design process to address real-world problems while gaining insight into the role of creativity and innovation in their lives. Throughout the course, students engage in various challenges, including building and testing a rubber band car, creating an avatar for a video game, designing a birdhouse, constructing skimmers, and learning and utilizing a CAD program to create and showcase 3D models of their designs. Students witness their CAD creations come to life with the help of 3D printers. As a culminating project, they are empowered to apply their knowledge and skills to design and build an innovative toy, showcasing their creativity and problem-solving abilities developed throughout the course.
Additionally, seventh and eighth grade students can explore their artistic side in Art. Each quarter, students focus on honing specific skills associated with the Studio Habits of Mind. These habits were created through research at Harvard University and show how the skills learned in visual arts can support learning in all subjects. These behaviors like “develop craft” which focuses on technique and studio practice, “envision” or thinking in images, and “reflect” or question, explain, and evaluate. By working on these behaviors, students aren’t just learning art; they’re developing critical thinking skills that help them succeed in everything from math to writing to science. 7th grade artists develop their craft through designing works of art that express information or ideas. They demonstrate persistence in developing studio skills in both 2-D and 3-D materials and reflect on that work through artist statements. 8th grade artists experiment, innovate, and take risks in their artwork as they design both 2-D and 3-D works of art. Artists stretch and explore how aesthetic choices are influenced by time and environment.
The Family and Consumer Sciences course at Linn-Mar’s middle school level covers a wide range of topics. Our 7th grade students will learn about differentiating between public and private living spaces and explore aesthetics of a home like colors and design. They also will learn more about human growth and development and begin learning about safety and personal hygiene in the kitchen while preparing food. Our 8th grade students will explore the basics about sewing, use a sewing machine, and will create a sewing project. They will expand on their 7th grade skills in the kitchen and will apply food safety practices while preparing foods safely.
Our eighth grade students also have an exciting introduction to the fields of robotics and automation through Robotics. In this hands-on class, students learn how to construct a variety of mechanisms using the VEX robotics parts. After they have learned the mechanisms, they work as a group to design, build, and test solutions for their clients’ needs. They are given a design brief with the criteria from fictional clients. They then work together to build a prototype that meets the client’s requests. The final project requires the students to learn basic coding for the motors and sensors to automate the final build of their choice. The class emphasizes teamwork and innovation, preparing students for future opportunities in STEM fields.
Our eighth grade students also receive additional support to prepare them for the transition to high school, and taking High School Prep helps our students prepare for future decisions. In this course they will hear from career speakers and learn how to make financial decisions. They also will begin to evaluate their interests so they can consider high school and postsecondary learning pathways that will lead them to high school and post-high school options that support their futures.
Looking Forward
This rotating approach not only exposes students to a broad range of subjects but also helps them discover interests and potential career paths they may want to explore further in high school.
We’ll follow these students throughout the quarter and share highlights of their work with our Linn-Mar community. We’re excited to see students dive into these unique classes, developing skills that will support them academically and personally.