Second graders at Washington Drive Primary School will be learning how different elements, such as wind and water, affect and contribute to beach erosion.
But before they do so, their teachers needed to do some learning of their own. That’s why Melinda O’Donoghue, Suzanne Chmura, Kim Lupton, Millie Rivera, Monique Golding and Deb Phillips participated in a “Science 21” professional training course, taught by Kathi Dinota of Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES.
The program, which Harborfields implemented in 2017 for its kindergartners and first graders, is an integrated K-6 science curriculum, “designed by teachers for teachers.” The curriculum, which is aligned with New York State’s Science Learning Standards, engages students in minds-on and hands-on science tasks relevant to everyday life.
Northport Food Pantry
Northport High School’s Key Club is helping families in the community by opening a food pantry at the high school. It is available to anyone who needs help providing food for themselves or their families.
In order to access the pantry, fill out this form and schedule a time to visit.
The pantry can be found by entering the school from Laurel Hill Road and going straight into the large parking lot.
The teachers learned how to prepare and administer each of the 15 lessons included in the program’s second unit, which is designed to tackle Earth and space science.
One such lesson had them using varying diameter tubes to blow air, simulating wind, against a sandcastle made of cornmeal and water. Other lessons then call for the design and construction of structures to prevent their choice of either water or wind erosion. Their creation’s efficiency will then be tested and the students will be required to compare each of their classmates designs to understand why one was more successful than the others.
Each of the tasks in the curriculum’s three units are designed to test the students’ understanding of physical science, earth and space science, life science and engineering.
Blues Music in Northport
Eighth graders at Northport Middle School welcomed Northport nativeToby Walker to their classroom for a lesson on musical and African-American history.
As part of his “Blues in the Schools” program, Walker took the students through a slideshow depicting the Mississippi blues musicians. He played music for the students on his steel guitar, which emulates the sounds of an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar and an electric diddley bow – a single stringed instrument, which influenced the development of the blues sound.
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