News & Updates 3/29/24

There is lots of math going on at NNS everyday, but recently we’ve been talking about it even more than usual. With Pi Day falling on March 14th (3.14), Tim gave an amazing (and interactive) morning meeting presentation that demonstrated measuring pi with a pendulum. He pointed out that pi is more than just the ratio of a circle's diameter to its circumference! Pi is found in sound and light waves, the “meandering ratio” of a river, the spacing of a zebra’s stripes, and in our very own DNA. 

Over in PK, our students are working on the basic foundations of their math understanding. Number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and inequalities are the current topics being explored. And you should see what they can do with a pattern!

More math talk is happening at the Estimation Station. On Monday, we will be announcing the results for this month and Anne tells me that as a community, our estimating skills are definitely improving! Over 25 students and adults will be recognized for either making the best estimate in their grade or making an estimate within 10% of the actual total. Come join us, if you can, for the presentation at 9:45am Monday morning!

Grade 7 is currently studying seasons and the earth-moon-sun relationship- perfect timing for a solar eclipse! Here on Nantucket, which is located outside the path of totality, the eclipse on April 8 from 2:17pm to 4:39pm will be partial. Maximum partial eclipse happens at 3:30pm. At the height of the eclipse, the Moon will cover approximately 87% of the disk of the Sun. If it’s a clear day, you may notice that the daylight becomes slightly less bright, as if there were some light cloud coverage and shadows on the ground may become more sharp.

We will be passing out solar eclipse glasses on April 8 at dismissal. To properly use solar glasses, first look at the ground, then place the solar glasses over your eyes, and then look up at the sky with glasses on. Do not look at the sun until your glasses are properly placed over your eyes!

Yesterday, there was a special field trip to the hockey rink to enjoy a free skate with 6th grade big friends and PK little friends. One of the most amazing things, Megan Solimeo said, was that there was every opportunity for the 6th graders to spend time hanging out and having fun on their own. Instead, the big friends paid absolute attention to their PK little friends and they had the time of their lives! Parents came to help, and weren’t needed, because the 6th graders took care of everything- tying skate laces, getting snacks, helping with shoes. While it was only an hour on the ice, the outstanding modeling by the 6th graders made a huge impact on their little friends!