What We’ve Been Up To…

California History
In this class, we learned about the Ohlone Indians, the four California regions, and the California gold rush. The Ohlone Indians were the first people to live in the Bay Area. Using artifacts, we learned how hard it is to make acorn mush, which is something the Indians ate daily. The Ohlone Indians were resourceful people; they did not waste anything! For example, they would use a deer’s meat for food, bone and antlers for a knife, skin for clothes, and sinew as string. We also got to play the hoop and spear game, which Ohlone boys played to learn how to catch dinner! For our field trip, we went to Coyote Hills, to hike and play where the Ohlone Indians once had.

In the California regions class we learned about the land, water, and animal forms in the desert, valley, mountain, and on the coast. Did you know that a bay is part of the ocean and is surrounded by land on three sides? That’s why Oakland is considered to be part of the Bay Area! We also decorated and ate our very own California cookies with the four different regions on them. California never tasted so good! In our gold rush class, we saw how hard it was for miners to strike rich and find gold. We pretended to be miners who went to prospectors to find out how much money we would get for the gold we discovered by using antique weights and a scale. Gold is actually really heavy, unlike fool’s gold. Then we panned for gold just like the 49ers did in 1849! California History sure came to life in this ImpACT class.

Biology of Plants
In “The Biology of Plants” class, the teachers used creative ways to teach the students important concepts behind plants. We kicked off the series by introducing students to the amazing world of plants. We learned about the different parts of a plant and played a fun game in which students guessed which plant families certain fruits and vegetables belonged to. Students also had a chance to create their very own plants in a fun drawing activity, creating a range of imaginative plants, from the “Meat Eater Plant” to the “Fairy Plant.”

As the weeks progressed, students learned challenging functions of plants such as germination, photosynthesis, and pollination. The students squealed and giggled as they watched an experiment on chlorophyll (green pigments in plants) extraction, which yielded a cup of neon-green liquid with pale-colored leaves. They had fun working together to pull apart different types of flowers to count the number of petals, carpals, and stamens – just like real botanists!

Though plants can look very frail, the students learned that they are very versatile creatures. Just as we put on warm jackets and scarves when it is winter time and wear shorts and T-shirts in the summer, plants adapt when they are in different environments. We learned about the different environments plants grow up in all over the globe, and each student got to take their own plant home at the end of class! They were eager to see how much more their plants would grow in the coming weeks.
We wrapped up the course by taking the students to Tilden Botanical Garden where we saw different native California plants. Some of our favorites were the Redwood Sorrel that bends downwards when it gets too sunny, the smelly and oily Mountain’s Misery, and the huge California Redwood Trees. The students were excited to learn about all the cool ways that plants adapt and we grew to have a strong appreciation for plants.

Music
Each week in “Music” class we learned to appreciate different aspects of various kinds of music. First, we learned that music can tell stories. We listened to various types of music such as classical, jazz, and movie theme songs like Pink Panther and drew pictures that came to our mind. Some of us drew dance competitions, horse races, weddings, and even the circus! During the second week of class, we learned that music has notes and beats. We were blown away by watching a scene from a drum-line competition. The students eagerly learned about the half, quarter, and eighth notes so that they too could play cool beats. The students showed off their skills by playing the beats they composed and wowed the teachers and the team leads. Our last class was probably everyone’s favorite: guest teachers brought in various instruments such as the violin, trombone, clarinet, cello, flute and – everyone’s favorite – the electric guitar! We were so excited to try these instruments and so shocked that some of these instruments were even bigger than the students!

For the past three months, ImpACT students went on various field trips to hear and see music come to life. One of the groups went to Beethoven’s Wig where we listened to four singers sing hilarious lyrics to famous classical pieces. At Dr. Noize, we learned how to make music electronically and some of us even danced on the stage! Lastly, one of the groups went to Toucan Jam where we heard about legends and saw the musicians play instruments from all over the world. Maybe one day, we too will become famous musicians, playing one of the instruments we learned about!