Our Growing Garden 

We have been watering our garden and watching it grow. Soon we will have enough vegetables to harvest. We are excited to see how food is grown and how it changes quickly from a small plant to a large vegetable. It is great to see the excitement from the students when they realize how easy it is to grown their own healthy foods. 

Quest Stargazers 

Our Quest class had the amazing opportunity to view the night sky and observe some awesome sights that fill our sky each night. Students, along with their families were invited to PRCC's Star Party. Dr. John Grant and Bill Nix were there to guide us through the night. We were able to look through telescopes to view the craters of the moon, Saturn and it's beautiful rings and largest moon, and other phenomenal sights in the sky. The students and parents had a blast and learned so much about the night sky.

Garden News 

Our 2nd grade Quest classes have worked hard to get our fall and winter vegetables in the ground and ready for harvest within the next few months. Students have learned all about what it takes to care for plants and how to properly plant them so that they will be productive plants. We have planted kale, collards, cabbage, broccoli, and bok choi. These plants were started from seed and donated to us by Dr. John Braswell, retired horticulturist with MSU extension services. We are looking forward to observing the growth process and harvesting these healthy vegetables. After harvesting, we will prepare a feast for sampling how these vegetables can be a part of our everyday diet. 

#healthychoices

Infinity Science Center @ Stennis

As our Quest class comes to an end on our Mission Space Study, our love for outer space will never end. It has been an amazing journey where students have found a deeper love for learning about our solar system and everything beyond what our eyes can see. We were excited to wrap up this unit with an educational field trip to the Infinity Science Center at Stennis Space Station. Students were able to make great connections, work with hands on science experiments, and see a real rocket ship up close and personal. This was a great experience that we will never forget. Thank you to all of the families that helped make this unit of study even better than we could have ever imagined. We couldn't have done it without you all. Thank you!!!! 

Fly Me to the Moon 

Quest has had a blast learning about the moon and all of the phases the moon goes through as it travels around our Earth. Students learned that there are 8 different phases of the moon, and it takes 29 and half days for the moon to cycle through its phases. Here are some pictures from our moon phase experiment. After this experiment, students thought it would be amazing to go to the moon and walk around just like the first astronauts did on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. 

Constellations 

Quest is excited to learn all about what is in the night sky. When we look up and see hundreds of stars, we wonder about many things. We are learning how to look at stars and name the constellations that we see. We are learning that some constellations can be seen in both the northern and southern hemisphere, while others can only be viewed during certain times of the year in either the northern or southern hemisphere. Here are some pictures of our constellations cards that we learned about and sewed. 

Quest Fair Art 

When thinking about all of the wonderful qualities that our quaint town exhibits, Quest students created a quilt square to share with others about what it means to have Poplarville  Pride. Each student thought about what they loved most about Poplarville and why they are proud to call this town their home. They designed their quilt piece for the county fair and it was displayed for everyone to see. Here is a picture of our quilt and the many reasons why we love our growing little town.

Galaxy in a Bottle

Anti-Gravity S.T.E.M. Experiment

2nd grade Quest students made galaxies in a bottle and experienced the awesomeness of what it looks like in our galaxy called, "The Milky Way." This S.T.E.M. experiment took students on a journey that allowed them to see the forces of gravity and how they work with certain liquids. The materials used to make our galaxies in a bottle are the following…..

* Clear bottle with ¼ filled with water

* Baby oil or cooking oil - fill bottle ⅔ full (leave space at top)

* Food coloring (We mixed blue and neon pink)

* Glitter (That was our favorite part)

Then you are ready to cap your bottle and shake it around to see what happens to the different liquids and glitter inside. We had a blast!!

Mission Space Bonus Point Picks 

Click below to watch Cannon's video!

Solar System Video By Cannon

Look at all of these amazing projects that our Quest students have been working on and bringing into class to share with everyone. We would like to also give a big shout out to the wonderful families that help make these projects possible. 

Oobleck Planets

Quest students participated in a S.T.E.M. project that helped them see the different properties of solids and liquids. Through this project, each student created their own planet made from Oobleck. Students had to decide if the new planet was a solid, liquid, or both, give it some color, test it out on an animal figurine, and name it. This was a great experience for the students and afterwards, they were able to take their newly found planet home to share with loved ones! Here are some pictures of this cool experiment.  

Mission Space

2nd grade Quest classes are blasting off to a great year with our Mission Space Unit. The students are so excited to be learning so much about space and the galaxy we live in. During this topic of study, we will learn all about the planets, constellations, sun, moon, galaxy, space missions, and so much more. Here is a picture from our talking planetary mat that helps us go on galactic adventures. 

Brain Stations 

Brain Stations are a time for us to think outside the box and ignite our minds. Students are finding ways to become amazing problem solvers and didn't realize it could be this fun!! Here are some pictures of the cool things they are working on. 

Team Challenges 

It's the beginning of a new school year, and that means we have new students to Quest. I am so excited to share with them my love for learning and discovering new things everyday. This first week has been great getting to know each other. The best way for us to learn how to work with one another is to explore by team challenges. The first few pictures you see are students working together to complete a puzzle. This was harder than it looks because the students couldn't use their verbal communication skills. They had to figure out other ways to communicate effectively. And if that wasn't hard enough, not all of the puzzle pieces were there. Students had to look around and solve the bigger problem. They all did a fantastic job. 

Saving Sam

Saving Sam is a STEM challenge that requires students to work together to formulate a plan on how to rescue Sam and get him into his life preserve without falling into the water. The hardest part, was that students couldn't touch Sam with their fingers. They could only use paper clips to maneuver him around and free the life preserve from underneath the boat. The students loved this project and all agreed that several failed attempts made them stronger, and realized the importance of task commitment and communication.