Quest Communique

Did you Know?

Some gifted students are visual-spatial learners. Creative, curious, out-of-the-box thinkers, Visual-Spatial Learners (VSLs) learn by intuitive leaps. They remember what they see and forget what they hear. They may forget details but remember the Big Picture forever. VSLs are skilled in pattern recognition, 3D mastery and visualization. Dr. Linda Silverman coined the term “Visual-Spatial Learner” (VSL) in 1981, and has been helping VSLs and their families for nearly 40 years. She wrote the book, Upside-Down Brilliance: Visual-Spatial Learners. To learn more about Visual-Spatial Learners please click the picture.

Second and Third Grade-Insects

Creating satellites using biomimicry of the elytra and wings of a ladybug.

Students did a lab outside where they tested which type of food ants preferred.

Students created their own model of an insect. They were able to choose between a butterfly, ladybug, or a bee.

FIFA Build it with a Goal ⚽

Fourth- and fifth-graders created their own soccer tabletop game. They then competed to see who had everything on the rubric and first place received a trophy.

Sixth-to-eighth graders researched stadiums and built their own model. They then had a competition to see which stadium had everything that was needed and first place won a trophy.

Mission Earth: The Extreme Engineering Challenge 🌍

Fourth Grade

Fourth graders constructed and presented data centers that predict volcanic eruptions.

Fifth Grade

Fifth graders constructed and presented data centers that predict volcanic eruptions.

Sixth Grade

Sixth-grade students built warning systems that included a working alert beacon and working gates. They then presented them to their peers.

Seventh and Eighth Grade

Seventh-and-eighth-graders engineered complex disaster systems that were required to have three working ways to alert people using motors. They then presented their systems to their peers.

The Renaissance Workshop 🔨

Students learned about linear perspective and vanishing points before sketching out their own three-dimensional rooms.

The last project students participated in was building a working crane model out of popsicle sticks, string, spools, wheels, hot glue, and masking tape. Their crane had to pick up a stapler. Students were challenged even further in a competition to see whose crane could pick up the stapler the highest off the ground.