Open House/ Ice Cream Social
Please save the date to join us on August 29th from 5:00-7:00 for our 24/25 open house and ice cream social. The entire school will meet in the gym. Mrs. Brittany will introduce the staff and go over some housekeeping items. You’ll hear from your Academic Policy Committee (APC) and your Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Then you’ll be able to visit your child’s classroom before meeting outside for an ice cream treat!
ASAs
Thursday, 8/22, Ms. Hope will be on the blacktop to collect the forms. We will have additional forms available, if you were unable to print.
Please give the front office a call if you have any questions, 907-742-4900.
Class Lists/ Supply Lists
If you haven't already, please check Aquarian's website for your student's class placement.
Also, teachers have posted their supply lists on their websites. Please spend some time exploring your teacher's website. You will click on the staff tab from the main site to find your child's teacher.
AQUARIAN A-Z: A GUIDE FOR NEW FAMILIES
We had a wonderful parent volunteerd put together this helpful guide. Please click HERE to check it out!
Cellphone/ Smart Watch/ Device Policy
Aquarian has a strict no cell phone or any other smart device policy. Students must keep these devices in their backpacks. If they are seen during the day, they will be taken. Parents will be contacted, and then they can pick up the device from the front office.
If you need to get ahold of your child during the day, please call the front office at 907-742-4900.
Beautification
We have two flower beds that are in need of some cleaning up. If you might be interested in taking this on, please email Brittany at Nerland_Brittany@asdk12.org for more information.
Enrichment with Mr. Robert
Quarter 1 Unit Overviews:
Kindergarten: Exploring Design:
Students engage in learning science and engineering practices that include using a design process to solve a problem. They explore how engineers use problem-solving as they design innovations and inventions. Students apply their understanding of the design process as they use available materials to design, build, and test structures including a model of a house and a painting tool.
1st Grade: (and K/1) Light and Sound:
All products that designers and engineers have made were created to meet a human need or want. One of the most basic of human needs is to communicate over a distance. In this module, students investigate light and sound, including vibration from sound waves and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light.
After building their knowledge and skills throughout the module, students follow the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that uses light or sound to communicate across a distance.
2nd Grade: Materials Science: Properties of Matter:
In this module, students investigate and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture, and heat conduction. Students learn about states of matter and properties of materials. They investigate which materials are good insulators and which are good conductors.
After building their knowledge and skills throughout the module, students determine the best materials to use as they design a prototype to keep an ice pop frozen for at least 30 minutes.
3rd Grade: (and 2/3) Stability of Motion : The Science of Flight :
Air is all around us. We know that air can hold up heavier-than-air objects, such as kites, gliders, and airplanes, but how does it do that? What forces act on an airplane or glider? Students use aerodynamic concepts to explain how the motion of air and other forces act on gliders and other aircraft.
Gliders and other aircraft use wings to develop the lift needed to fly. Wing shapes, sometimes called airfoils, provide lift. Wings must have the proper angle of attack—the angle at which a wing meets the flow of air. Because of their design, the airfoils can overcome gravity acting on the aircraft. Research and testing has shown that a wing with a streamlined shape and a body or fuselage that is streamlined can help overcome drag.
In this module, students design, build, and test an experimental model glider as they learn about the forces involved in flight. In addition, students apply the engineering design process to the problem of airlifting supplies to a remote area.
4th Grade: Energy Exploration: Whether students realize it or not, energy is everywhere! It presents itself at school, at home, and around the community. In this module, students explore energy-related phenomena. During their explorations, students make observations, pose questions, and make connections.
With a basic understanding of energy, students take a deeper dive as they explore energy transfer. At centers, students observe and model how energy moves through a system.
Then students learn how William Kamkwamba, a real-life problem solver, brought electricity to his community. Kamkwamba designed and built a windmill to convert wind energy to electricity. Inspired by Kamkwamba’s story, students follow the design process as they design a windmill prototype with blades that turn when moving air passes over them.
To deepen their understanding of energy, students follow the scientific inquiry process as they ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide. Students design an investigation to test what happens when marbles collide on a track.
After building an understanding of energy, students follow the design process to apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.
5th Grade: Robotics and Automation : In this module students explore robotic history and learn more about a particular type of robot. The activities and projects in this module develop skills and knowledge associated with robotics and the use of VEX IQ equipment.
The problem for this module is introduced through a fictional story in which the three characters (Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi) are also learning about robotics. The characters learn about the use of robots in the clean up after a natural disaster at a nuclear plant. In this design problem, students work with a group to design, model, and test a robot that can remove hazardous materials from a disaster site. They also design the layout of the site to include a water site and a hazardous materials collection zone.
6th Grade: Ecosystems and Global Environmental Change :
Students construct a self-sustaining ecosystem model and conduct a long-term inquiry investigation of the changes that occur in the system through weekly observations. In the inquiry project, students improve their skills in experimental design, and the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. Alongside weekly observations of the changes occuring in the models, students learn about ecology and the complex interdependent relationships among living and nonliving components of ecosystems. This course focuses on Alaskan ecosystems, and how these ecosystems have changed over time. Students will also investigate global environmental change over time, and explore how environmental change is measured and tracked.
