Maine’s Positive Story of the Day from Falmouth Middle School ~
8th grade science students at Falmouth Middle School are engrossed in their “Fab Friday” projects. This learning event gives students the opportunity to create their own investigations into questions that interest them. (Named “Fab Friday ” because class time on Fridays is set aside for students to engage in this.) Students work in pairs or small groups to identify a topic they are interested in, formulate a research question and a hypothesis, design and carry out a study, and present their findings.
Principal Jan Adams happened upon some 8th graders working on their projects late in the school day on Friday, January 28, 2022. They were eager to tell her about their topics:
• “We’re doing a social experiment to see if people are more likely or less likely to help others if they are in a group as opposed to being alone.”
• “We are doing a study to see what is the best way to learn in order to retain information.”
• “We are looking at why different chemicals change the color of fire.”
• “We are trying to find a way to make ballet pointe shoes more comfortable.”
• “We are wondering if we can make a model of a train that doesn’t use fossil fuel.”
• “We are wondering if people treat others differently before and after they know your ‘back story.’”
• “We are wondering how Covid has impacted students’ experiences in school sports.”
To see 8th graders, at the end of the last day of a long school week (with a snowstorm on the way), so excited about learning and asking questions was pure joy! They were so intent on their work that the rest of the world seemed to slip away. This exemplifies what learning should be. We are incredibly proud of these learners and their teachers!