Cluster Four Update
June 9, 2023
Goodbye Cluster 4 Seventh Graders!!
Book Groups!
For the culmination of our dystopian literature study, we are ending the year with book clubs. Students are working in small groups to read one of several different dystopian book titles. Students are doing a wonderful job of noticing the qualities of a dystopia, following the progress of the protagonist’s journey toward fighting injustice, and narrowing in on themes.
In WATERtown, we care deeply about WATER!
Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
Future Cities!!
Cluster 4 Interdisciplinary
To end the year, Cluster 4 students are immersed in an interdisciplinary project titled “Future Cities.” Students have looked at data from the UN that suggests that in 2050, 65% of us will be living in cities. Working in small groups, students have been asked to imagine themselves as novice civil engineers, tasked with designing their own city for the future that manages the challenges of stormwater in a community.
The constraints of the project require students to use ONLY recycled materials, build their city to scale (a tough task), and include a water source, a residential zone, an industrial zone, a commercial zone, municipal buildings, and a form of transportation. Moreover, students must include examples of Best Management Practices of stormwater management. Members of the Watertown Stormwater Committee joined us on a walk around town pointing out specific infrastructure that has been installed on Edenfield St. as well as in the new construction projects by the river. Students identified rain gardens, swales, and tree pits as ways for water to be absorbed into the ground as opposed to running down the storm drain to the river, dragging pollutants along with it.
Working as part of a team challenges the students to work through decision-making, task management, and construction. On Monday students will try a design challenge in which they will have to construct one building that can hold water without collapsing…should be interesting! The students will present their finished cities on Thursday in the WMS library.
Wishing all a safe and relaxing summer! Please encourage your student to READ over the vacation!
Learning about Stormwater BMPS
Learning about Stormwater BMPS
Rain gardens keep the water from turning into runoff into the river
Our Most Amazing Stormwater Warrior Volunteers!
Nature
Permeability Lab
Brainstorming designs in small groups...
When all else fails...
Practicing those Rusty Group Work Skills
Goodbye Breanna Cole!!
Adios a Senora C!
...“a holly plant is a vibrant sign of life, which prospers during dark, cold days of winter.” This definition also applies because as a WPS Family Liaison, she is a vibrant ray of hope for vulnerable students and their families, who often face layers of challenges, as well as intergenerational trauma."
(Excerpted from Sheila Gilmartin's speech at the Retirement Party)