Sex Education mini-unit starts Tuesday, Feb 16, 2016.

The students already know that in our science classes we are setting aside time for a few days starting next Tuesday to discuss health and sex education. We have traditionally begun the unit on Valentine’s Day for several years now, so students know when to expect it. This is done at all three grade levels, though the level of discussion and the range of topics differ a bit from 6th to 8th grade. In this unit we look at structure and function as well as changes that occur during puberty. Diseases are explained as well as good hygiene, and why it is important to get a good night’s sleep every night. We discuss what it means to be a parent and the miracle of child birth. The unit ends up with a short unit on heredity and Punnett squares to predict genotype and phenotype.

Kids are asked to deal with this material in a mature manner as this is very important (and to some people embarrassing) information. There is a question and answer session where students may write down questions on a piece of paper (without names) that are then read out loud by the teacher and answered openly and honestly. If the teacher deems a question to be inappropriate, it will not be shared with the class.

In the past, there were some things that we did not discuss during this unit. For either religious or cultural reasons, there may be different ideas within our Quest community of what is appropriate to teach the children. For this reason, we felt these topics were best discussed in the home. This included topics like birth control and sexual orientation. We encourage you to ask your child about what they are learning in this unit and to give your child a chance to ask any other questions they may have on the topic.

**Note for 8th grade parents: New legislation regarding sex education in the state of Illinois was passed into law as of January 1, 2014. While it does not force schools to teach sex education (93% of Illinois public schools do), it does require that if sex ed is taught, the curriculum go beyond the concept of abstinence and also discuss birth control. Why the change? There has been a spike in the last few years in teenage pregnancies and venereal diseases. It was determined that the “Just say no” education was insufficient for our children.

What does this mean for our 8th graders? The message “wait for marriage” has always been a hallmark of our program, but for 8th graders we choose to adjust our curriculum to be in alignment with the new legislation. The unit takes at least two days, so these changes would not be addressed until the second day of the unit.

Parents: It has never been our desire to step on the toes of our parent body. Some parents may feel strongly that they do not want their 8th grade child exposed to this information at this time. We understand and respect that wish. Therefore, we offer three options (option 2 only affects 8th graders):

  1. Do nothing and your child will take full part in the unit and discussion afterwards.
  1. Write a note to Mr. S for option 2: permission for your child to be taught the same curriculum we have employed in the past, but not the new section on birth control. Please sign the note. Alternate learning opportunities unrelated to sex education will be provided next Tuesday for your child.
  1. Write a note to Mr. S for option 3: ask that your child be exempt from the unit altogether and instead cover this information as a family within the home. Alternate studies will be provided for your child both Friday and Tuesday (no school Monday).

 

E-mail is another option: You may contact Mr. S before 8:00 am on Tuesday at the following address:

Nate.stoffregen@questacademy.org. Thank you for your consideration!

 

Sincerely, Mr. S

 

Cartography, Floods and National Parks

7th graders were hard at work on their topographic maps.

7th graders were hard at work on their topographic maps.

Topognosia. Isn’t that a wonderful way to begin a discussion? Toss in a word (that may or may not be real) and try to suss out its meaning much the way a dowser might try to locate water underground. In this case the word happens to be real, and holds the honor of being the first quatra-syllabic word in this blog. Woot.  Since the 7th graders just finished their flood unit, a word like topognosia tweaks the curiosity just a tad.

Shame on you. I know your type! For there are more than a few of you who took the opportunity at the end of the previous paragraph to go look up the term for yourself, or to nonchalantly quiz your 7th grader as to its meaning. That’s cheating. Though I will admit to truncating the former paragraph a bit early just to see what fish came up in the net. For the rest of you who plunged bravely on but are still working on their medical terminology, lets break the word down.  “Topog” gives no valid hits on Google, but we hit the jackpot with “topo” – 46 million hits, most related to map terrain. As expected. “Nosia” threw me initially, as I inadvertently assumed it was disease-related.

Tossing it out there into the electronic ether brought back a few funny catches. Anosognosic is one of my new favorite terms, as it means one who is unable to recognize that he or she has a disease. There are so many ways to go with this, but in the interest of nurturing a holiday spirit of wholesomaeity (new word just in time for the three day weekend), I will restrain myself, though the effort leaves my fingers quivering. It also produced nosologist, or one who specializes in the classification of diseases. In the end, all of the nosic terms were misleading, for topognosia is not a disease at all. It is the ability to recognize the location of a stimulus on the skin. This is useful for instance in the presence of a horde of hungry mosquitoes when it is painfully necessary to know where and when to slap with abandon.

I must confess to a sense of letdown at this point, for I had hoped that we had at our fingertips a fun new multi-syllabic word to describe the inability of some to look at a topographic map while deep in the woods and unerringly pinpoint their location on it. A moment’s cogitation on theimage matter reminded me that we already had an effective term for that condition: “lost.”

Within the Flood/Create a National Park unit, there were different roles for each member of the group including Ranger, Mayor, Landscape Architect and Cartographer.  Within these roles the 7th graders presented different reports based on their research. We learned about different types of dams, a history of major dam failures, the types of flora and fauna one might expect to encounter along the St. Joe River in Idaho, the setting for our parks, and how the new dam might impact them. The mayors presented brochures inviting tourists to the park, but also had to state their opinion about whether this new park would help or hinder their nearby town, and why. The cartographer worked very hard to create a 2’ x 2’ topographical map of their park replete with a new dam,  roads connecting the park to local highways, many hills rising up as high as 3000 feet, and a plethora of park features. It was fun to see the different visions each group had for their park and their new dam, which was intended to stop future floods in the area. This group is anything but lost!

Quest Academy Science Fair Region 6 Qualifiers

image image image image image image imageWe held our Quest Science Fair in the gymnasium on Thursday, January 28. 60 students presented their projects to 50 judges – a new record! Thanks to everyone who helped out. We were touched and amazed at the groundswell of support from the community who were here to help – scientists, doctors, parents, friends, businesspeople, alumni, staff and administration… the list goes on! The feedback and support you give to the students enriches the science program at Quest. Click the following link to see the 22 students who have qualified for the regional fair to be held at Niles North High school on Saturday, March 5th, 2016. Congratulations!  – Mr. S

 

1st Place: Freddie Tang, 7th grade

Tie for 2nd place: Sara Gregg and Aarushi Verma

Congratulations to our 22 students