Pocantico Hills School fifth-graders used vivid paint colors, while others worked with Legos, clay or candy to illustrate the components of an animal cell showcased at the recent Learning Cell-ebration.
The event also featured math and English/language arts projects. Students created a math word problem about things they hope to have done by the time they are 100 years old, such as visiting countries. They made computer-generated photos of what they might look like as centenarians and turned their narrative non-fiction stories into ebooks with photos.
“We wanted kids to begin to see the bridges that exist between reading and science,” said Marina Lombardo, the fifth-grade English/language arts teacher.
Julia Smith-Marrone’s story highlighted the devastating impact that deforestation has had on the red panda, native to Asia.
Her father, Nathaniel Smith-Marrone, said, “I was very impressed by her language in the story. It made it come alive.”
Matthew Dilcer placed Lego pieces and flags marking cytoplasm, lysosome, ribosomes and other components inside a circular border made of the blocks. Lego figures stood guard outside the cell. “There are unlimited possibilities of what you could do with them,” he said.
