Catapults, capillaries and circuits studied at McClelland's first 'All-School Science Day'
Banding students from 10 grade levels together, the McClelland School, 415 E. Abriendo Ave., held their first-ever "All-School Science Day" with experiments and excitement Tuesday.
Preschool through second-grade students created dazzling "Habitat Hallway" displays of arctic, jungle, ocean, forest and savanna environments while learning about the animals that inhabit them. Third- and fourth-graders gave presentations using objects like woodchips, paperclips, marbles and marshmallow catapults while middle schoolers conducted a series of water experiments in the gymnasium.
At the end of the day, students at the private school were visited by Marc Straub, executive director of Cool Science — a Colorado-based nonprofit committed to making science "cool for kids."
"One of our big pushes this year is a return to community — bringing our community back," said Jo Nesbit, head of school at McClelland. "With COVID, we had to kind of create those silos ... the middle school didn't interact with the lower school and didn't interact with preschool. We wanted to be intentional about returning back to what we did before."
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McClelland is a private school serving preschool through eighth-grade students. There is an average of about 10 students enrolled at each grade level. While students of different grade levels have been able to interact through activities before, this year's All-School Science Day was the first event of its kind. Similar history-oriented and Earth Day events are also planned for this school year, Nesbit said.
Collaboration between grade levels was on full display during the All School Science Day Tuesday. Third and fourth grade students helped visiting cohorts of younger students place cut-outs representing the brain, the trachea, the heart, lungs, the stomach and intestines on an outline of the human body. Next door, fourth-grader Ilan Murad dropped different items in a "density tower" of liquids while other students guessed how deep the items would sink.
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Middle school students learned about buoyancy through "diving squid" bottle experiments, built electric circuits to test the conductivity of different liquids, examined why dry-erase marker drawings are able to float in water and simulated capillary action in plants with food coloring, paper towels and celery. While experiments were conducted with everyday objects, they explore larger concepts that students will apply in upcoming science classes.
"We are just getting them ready for high school," said Ryan Elson, a middle school science teacher at McClelland. "They are going to have some serious science coming up pretty soon. I want to make sure that they are ready for chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry and all the things the world has to offer out there, and hope they enjoy it."
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo private school brings 10 grade levels together for Science Day
