Students will create an artifact using computing systems to model the attributes and behaviors associated with a concept (e.g., day and night, animal life cycles, plant life cycles). Students are scientists (botanists, zoologists), who just found a new plant/animal in their chosen ecosystem. Their job is to introduce their new plant/animal to the scientific world! They will create a stop motion video to show their new plant/animal's life cycle.

Students will use their knowledge and understanding of the lives and contributions of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln with focus on the Civil War era by reconstructing key aspects of their lives that connect them to the Civil War.

Create a museum exhibit that will explore a specific historical time period or event through the display and analysis of historical artifacts and primary sources.

In a spin-off to studying about angular momentum, students use basic methods of comparative mythology to consider why spinning and weaving are common motifs in creation of myths and folktales. Note: The literacy activities for the Mechanics unit are based on physical themes that have broad application to our experience in the world — concepts of rhythm, balance, spin, gravity, levity, inertia, momentum, friction, stress and tension.

Students learn how scientific terms are formed using Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes, and on that basis, learn to make an educated guess about the meaning of a word. Students are introduced to the role played by metaphor in language development.

Students will explore the enduring legacy of the cultures of enslaved people in Virginia by examining primary sources, engaging the research of Black historians, and connecting to their own experiences, interests, and cultures. Students document their thinking in a graphic organizer for formative assessment.