UMA Learning Program by Blue

UST

Blue

Upper Mississippi Academy (UMA) Founding member and Director Authorizer by Innovative Quality Schools (IQS), the Commissioner of Education approved the contract on 08.30.2012 and assigned School District No. 4210 to UMA to operate as a non-Districted Public school in Minnesota. In collaboration with Clockwork (and Nancy Lyons, CEO; UMA Board Member), developed UMA brand, logos, web-site, Director portals for communication with students, family, and the community, and strategic media and social media marketing plan. The UMA Learning Program - and embedded 4 Experiential Learning Pathways reflects the unique teaching and learning opportunities.

Learning Program

Upper Mississippi Academy provides a unique setting for teaching and learning in which students are engaged in learning opportunities that are rigorous, relevant, and relational. The learning programs at Upper Mississippi Academy are supported by these beliefs: I. We believe that children are inherently creative. II. We believe that learning should be distinct, diverse, and dynamic. III. We believe in single gender learning opportunities. IV. We believe children deserve a chance to dig their way to China. V. We believe students and teachers should eat together. VI. We believe in life-long kindergarten. These beliefs have guided our program design, addressing academic standards while including opportunities for interaction with peers, teachers, and community experts in all content areas. The learning program provides for the building and nurturing of relationships across content and grade levels as well as family and community involvement. The learning programs at UMA, supported by best practices, are embedded in four Experiential Learning Pathways which serve as a framework for instructional design, delivery, and evaluation of student achievement and growth. We invite you to explore these Pathways and think about learning as it relates to global and environmental, community, and personal values. We look forward to the opportunity to frame teaching and learning within these frameworks for families, students, and communities. If you have questions about the learning programs at UMA, please feel free to contact Julie Blue at 612.414.1946 or julie.blue@umissacademy.org.

THE EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD

Adapted from The Edible Schoolyard, Berkeley, CA

OUTCOMES: • Food is an Academic Subject A school garden, kitchen and dining facility are integral to the core academic mission of the school, so that ecology and gastronomy help bring alive every subject, from reading and writing to science and art. • School Provides Breakfast and Lunch for Every Child From pre-school through high school, every child is served a wholesome, delicious meal, every day. Good food is a right not a privilege. Providing it every day brings children into a positive relationship with their health, their community, and the environment. • School Supports Farms When available, school dining facilities buy seasonally fresh food from local, sustainable farms and ranches, not only for reasons of health and education, but as a way of strengthening local food economies. • Children Learn by Doing Hands-on education, in which children do the work in the vegetable beds and on the cutting boards, awakens their senses and opens their minds, both to their core academic subjects and to the world around them. • Beauty is a Language A beautifully prepared environment, where deliberate thought has gone into everything from garden paths to the plates on the table, communicates to children that we care about them.

EL HUERTO ESCOLAR Adaptado de “Edible Schoolyard” de Berkeley, CA RESULTADOS ESPERADOS: • La Comida es una Asignatura Académica. Un huerto escolar, una cocina y un comedor son parte integral de la misión académica de Upper Mississippi Academy. De ésta manera, la ecología y la gastronomía ayudan a darle vida a cada materia o curso, desde la lectura y la escritura hasta las ciencias y el arte. • Upper Mississippi Academy Provee Desayuno y Almuerzo para cada Estudiante. Desde el nivel pre-escolar hasta la secundaria y a diario, los estudiantes son servidos comidas saludables y deliciosas. Acceso a buena comida es un derecho, no un privilegio. Proveerla a diario lleva a los estudiantes a establecer relaciones positivas con su salud, su comunidad y con el medio ambiente. • Upper Mississippi Academy Respalda y Apoya Granjas Locales. En la medida possible, el comedor escolar compra productos frescos y de temporada a granjas y ranchos locales y sustentables; no sólo por razones de salud y educación, sino como una manera de fortalecer la economía local. • Los Niños Aprenden Haciendo. “Hands-on education” o “manos a la obra”, en la cual los niños trabajan directamente en los huertos y en la preparación de la comida. Esto despierta sus sentidos y abre sus mentes no sólo ante los cursos académicos básicos, sino ante el mundo que los rodea. • La Belleza es una forma de Lenguaje. Un medio ambiente bellamente preparado en el cual se ha puesto especial atención y pensamientos, desde las veredas en los jardínes hasta los platos sobre la mesa, le comunica a los estudiantes que son importantes para nosotros.

VALUES: Global and Environmental Stewardship • Water: Students recognize water as a precious resource and intrinsic to the sustenance of all living organisms. Students explore methods of water conservation at the UMA campus as well as understand how these concepts apply to their everyday lives. • Bio-Diversity: At UMA we are mindful of bio-diversity as it pertains to the ecology of the garden, the historical significance and development of our campus, and within our student body. Students explore the garden as an ecosystem and understand that embracing and preserving diversity builds a strong, healthy, and resilient earth. • Soil: Students understand that our topsoil is the lifeblood and fertility of the garden. Because soil is alive and diverse, students are committed to its cultivation and preservation. • Pollination: Students recognize the garden as a habitat for pollinators and understand their impact on our food supply. Students cultivate a respect for insects by developing appropriate responses and consideration when encountering these inhabitants in the garden. Community Stewardship • Ritual and Intention: Students practice the act of eating together by gathering around the table and sharing food and conversation. Students extend these practices into home and community settings. Students approach tasks in the garden and the kitchen with deliberate thought and attentions. By proceeding with a sense of purpose, students develop an appreciation and learn by doing. • Unity: Students create an atmosphere of cooperation. By welcoming the ideas and contributions of others, students seek to elevate the experience of all by offering and receiving encouragement and direction. • Seasonality: Students practice an understanding of seasonality as they learn to anticipate, enjoy, and savor foods at their peak of flavor and ripeness. Students understand that locally sourced foods are good choices for optimum freshness, the support of their local economy, and a low carbon footprint. • Gifting: Students understand and practice a culture of “gifting” from the garden and the kitchen to each other, their families, and their community. Personal Stewardship • Confidence: The Edible Schoolyard at UMA strives to create an engaging and stimulating environment where students can explore their strengths, foster new interests, and build their competencies in the kitchen, the garden, the academic classroom, and in life in general. • Observation and Awareness: The garden and kitchen provide opportunities for exploration, investigation and inquisitive learning. Working together in the garden and kitchen encourages students to utilize their inherent curiosity about the natural world. Students learn to observe patterns and connections and understand cause and effect. • Beauty: Beauty delivers a message of both optimism and expectation to students about the world around them. As students contribute to the garden and the kitchen, they take ownership in creating a beautiful environment. Students notice and appreciate the beauty surrounding them in the gardens, the kitchen, and on the UMA campus. Beauty opens the mind by awakening and pleasing the senses, and in the practice of “gifting”; creating something beautiful communicates care and value to the individual and those around him/her. • Interconnectedness: Participating in the production of food from seed to table allows students to see the kitchen and garden as inextricably linked. As students become an integral part of the garden and kitchen culture with their peers, they begin to see themselves as part of a larger community - as active agents in a complex ecological web. They become a part of the Edible Schoolyard community held together by threads of experiences, memories, and the hard work of students, their families, and community supporters.

RIVER TO RIVER: AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND HISTORICAL EXPLORATION OF THE UPPER POST OUTCOMES: • Students should have many and varied opportunities to develop a personal connection with nature. • Education should emphasize our connections with other people and other species, and between human activities and planetary systems. • Education should help students move from awareness to knowledge to action with opportunities to improve local environments and to solve environmental problems. • Learning should extend into the community incorporating environmental and historical reference points into authentic learning opportunities. • Learning should be a function of experience, sensory-rich, emotionally engaging, and linked to the real world. • Education should integrate subject disciplines in that addressing environmental issues requires knowledge and skills from all content areas. • Education should include traditional knowledge and historical focal points with opportunities to learn about traditional ways of life that are based on respect for nature and the sustainable use of resources. • Teachers should be facilitators and co-learners with the view that the natural world as well as the historical backdrop of the Upper Post is an open book that invites discovery by all - students, teachers, families, and communities.

RIO A RIO: UNA EXPLORACION AMBIENTAL E HISTORICA DEL PUESTO SUPERIOR (UPPER POST) RESULTADOS ESPERADOS: • Los estudiantes deben contar con muchas y variadas oportunidades para desarrollar conexiones personales con la naturaleza. • La educación debe enfatizar nuestras conexiones con otras personas, con otras especies, y entre las actividades humanas y los sistemas planetarios. • La educación debe ayudar a los estudiantes a desplazarse entre la conciencia, el conocimiento y la acción; con oportunidades para la mejora de los medios ambientes locales y para solventar problemas ambientales. • El aprendizaje debe extenderse hacia la comunidad, incorporando puntos de referencia del medio ambiente e históricos con oportunidades de auténtico aprendizaje. • El aprendizaje debe darse en función a experiencias sensorialmente ricas y emocionalmente comprometedoras , vinculadas al mundo real. • La educación debe integrar cursos de diversas disciplinas, ya que el abordaje de problemas del medio ambiente requiere del conocimiento y de las habilidades provenientes de todas las áreas de contenido. • La educación debe incorporar conocimiento tradicional y puntos de vista históricos con oportunidades para aprender sobre las formas de vivir tradicionales, las cuales están basadas en el respeto hacia la naturaleza y el uso sustentable de sus recursos. • Los Docentes deben ser facilitadores y co-estudiantes, bajo la idea de que el mundo natural y el trasfondo histórico del Puesto Superior es un libro abierto que invita al descubrimiento por parte de estudiantes, docentes, familiares y comunidades.

VALUES: Global and Environmental Stewardship • Water: Students recognize water as a precious resource and intrinsic to the sustenance of all living organisms. Students explore methods of water conservation at the UMA campus as well as understand how these concepts apply to their everyday lives. • Bio-Diversity: At UMA we are mindful of bio-diversity as it pertains to the ecology of the Upper Mississippi River Valley as well as the historical significance and development of our campus. Students explore the Upper Post, past and present, as a player in a larger ecosystem and understand that embracing and preserving bio-diversity builds a strong, healthy, and resilient earth. • Natural Resources: Students will understand and practice opportunities for environmental restoration, cleanups, and other ways to leave resources in better shape than before. • Historical Preservation: Students at UMA understand that history defines the past and informs the present as it relates to people, places, and culture. Students embrace the efforts taken to preserve buildings and artifacts and to celebrate the people and cultures that contribute to the historical significance of the Upper Post as well as Minnesota. Community Stewardship • Ritual and Intention: Students practice gathering before and after environmental and historical explorations to engage in purposeful conversation about the land features, natural resources, and people as those components relate to the past, present, and future. • Unity: Students create an atmosphere of cooperation. By welcoming the ideas and struggles of people and cultures (past and present), students seek to elevate the experience of all by honoring contributions and creating an atmosphere of cooperation and celebration. • Gifting: Students understand the culture of “gifting” from the peoples of the past and translate those ideas into opportunities to “give” thoughts, ideas, as well as physical gifts to their own history and the history of their families and communities. Personal Stewardship • Confidence: The River to River Pathway at UMA strives to create an engaging and stimulating environment where students can explore their strengths, foster new interests, and build their competencies around the environmental and historical explorations of the Upper Post. • Observation and Awareness: The environmental and historical significance of the Upper Post provides opportunities for exploration, investigation and inquisitive learning. Students identify patterns of natural occurrences as well as human behavior and understand the connections and cause and effect of both. • Beauty: Beauty delivers a message of both optimism and expectation to students about the world around them. As students explore the Upper Post and the Upper Mississippi River Valley from an environmental and historical perspective, they recognize the beauty of the place and its people. • Interconnectedness: Participating in the environmental and exploration of the Upper Post, students connect to the events and cultures of the past and begin seeing themselves as an integral part of a larger community that is connecting the past to the future.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING, Including a Robotics Lab, Woodshop, Textile Lab, and Visual Arts Studio OUTCOMES: • Curiosity The practice of wondering and asking good questions as well as the desire to understand people and the world around them more deeply are critical to the school’s core mission and is reflected in all content areas across every grade level. • Creativity Turning new and imaginative ideas into reality involves two processes: thinking and producing. • Collaboration Observing, listening to, and learning from others who have ideas and perspectives and expertise different from your own is critical to the design process at every layer of teaching and learning. • Associative or Integrative Thinking Associating ideas with not only previous, but also ongoing experiences and integrating thoughts into multiple aspects of teaching and learning are fundamental to creativity and innovation. • Tendency Toward Action and Experimentation “Design-thinking” requires a willingness to experiment and take calculated risks, the ability to tolerate failure, perseverance, and the capacity to approach problems and solutions as well as innovative thoughts and ideas in new and creative ways. DISEÑO E INGENIERIA (Incluyendo laboratorios de Robótica, Textiles, Carpintería y Estudio de Artes Visuales) RESULTADOS ESPERADOS: • Curiosidad La práctica de imaginar y preguntar, así como el deseo de entender a las personas y al mundo que nos rodea de una manera más profunda, es crítico para la misión de Upper Mississippi Academy. Esto es reflejado en todas sus áreas de contenido a lo largo de todos los niveles. • Creatividad Convertir ideas nuevas e imaginativas en realidades requiere de dos procesos: pensamientos y producción. • Colaboración Observar, escuchar y aprender de otras personas que poseen ideas, perspectivas y experiencias diferentes a las propias es de gran importancia para el proceso de diseño de cada nivel de enseñanza y aprendizaje. • Pensamiento Asociativo o Integrativo Asociar ideas con experiencias previas y experiencias actuales y al mismo tiempo integrar los pensamientos con multiples aspectos de la enseñanza y de el aprendizaje es fundamental para la creatividad e innovación. • Tendencia hacia la Acción y hacia la Experimentación El pensamiento de diseño requiere de disposición para poder experimentar y tomar riesgos calculados, de la habilidad para tolerar el fracaso, de la perseverancia, y de la capacidad para afrontar problemas y soluciones, así como de pensamientos innovativos e ideas en formas nuevas y creativas.

VALUES: Global and Environmental Stewardship • Preservation: Students at UMA recognize and honor the design process as it relates to past, present, and future contributions of engineering as our society strives to face global and environmental challenges and improve the overall quality of life. • Sustainability: At UMA, students explore opportunities for sustainability of thoughts, ideas, and products in parallel with the design process. • Innovation: Students recognize innovation as the vehicle for discovering optimal solutions for global and environmental issues as they relate to the Design Process and engineering contributions. Community Stewardship • Ritual and Intention: Students practice the act of gathering in large and small groups to share thoughts and ideas. Students extend this practice into home and community settings. By proceeding with deliberate and purposeful thoughts and ideas, students develop an appreciation of learning by doing. • Unity: Students create an atmosphere of cooperation. By welcoming the ideas and contributions of others, students seek to elevate the experience of all by offering and receiving encouragement and direction from peers and mentors. • Gifting: Students understand and practice a culture of “gifting” to each other, their families, and their community from their thoughts and ideas in the labs to their creations and products in the studio and workshop. Personal Stewardship • Confidence: UMA strives to create an engaging and stimulating environment where students can explore their strengths, foster new interests, engage in creative problem-solving in a risk-free learning environment and build their competencies within the context of artistic design and the engineering process. • Observation and Awareness: The labs, workshop, and studio provide opportunities for creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving as well as collaboration with peers and community experts. Working individually and collaboratively in these settings encourages students to utilize their inherent curiosity about creations and designs in both the man-made and natural world. Students learn to observe patterns and connections and understand cause and effect. • Beauty: Beauty delivers a message of both optimism and expectation to students about the world around them. Whether it is the beauty in a thought or idea, the beauty of a design, or the beauty in a product, students notice and appreciate quality in workmanship and the design process. The sense of high-quality design and innovative creativity communicates care and value to the individual and those around him/her. • Interconnectedness: Participating in the Design Cycle in a variety of learning environments allows students to see the relationship among curiosity, creativity, problem-solving, and design. Students become a part of a community committed to the design process as it relates to the natural world, innovation and invention, and to the society in which they live.

ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS Understanding the Elements, Their Structure, Their Behavior, and How They Relate and React to One Another in the Global and Universal Environments.

OUTCOMES: • Creating and manipulating matter responsibly Creative science is touched and used. Hands-on creation of ingredients that are used in products, foods, textiles and tools inspires connections to health, home and the global community for conscientious use of the earth’s resources. Children learn elemental as well as cutting-edge science in gardens, kitchens, and labs. • Developing sustainable products that meet the economic, ecological, social and aesthetic needs of today’s society without impairing the chances of development for future generations Developing daily rituals have immediate and long-term impact. Children learn the influence they have in their choices for personal care, food, clothing and activities. They learn how to create sustainable products for personal grooming and for care of home and the global community. • Encouraging interactions and connections between ourselves, our environment and our materials Discovering the many points of impact children have for taking care of self, taking care of school, taking care of home and taking care of each other teaches connections between materials and environment. The same materials are used in nutrition, global grooming and design and can be done with a sustainable vision. • Seeing ourselves and our earth as part of a larger cosmos composed of the same core elements Core quantum principles connect self, globe and universe. Responsible application of the sciences of chemistry, biology, mathematics and physics demonstrate the possibility of quantum-leap innovations and new discoveries. INGREDIENTES ESCENCIALES. Entender los Elementos, Su Estructura, Su Comportamiento y Cómo Reaccionan el Uno con el Otro en el Medio Ambiente Global y Universal. RESULTADOS ESPERADOS: • Crear y manipular materia responsablemente La Ciencia Creativa es manipulada y usada. “Hands-on” o manos a la obra directamente en la creación de los ingredientes usados en diversos productos, comidas, textiles y herramientas, inspira conexiones con la salud, el hogar y la comunidad global para el uso consciente de los recursos de la tierra. Los niños aprenden lo básico y elemental así como ciencia de última generación en jardínes, cocinas y laboratorios. • Desarrollo sustentable de productos que satisfagan las necesidades económicas, sociales y estéticas de la sociedad actual sin limitar las posibilidades de desarrollo para futuras generaciones El desarrollo de rutinas diarias tienen impacto inmediato y de largo plazo. Los niños aprenden la influencia que sus desiciones tienen en el cuidado personal, en la comida, en el vestido y en las actividades. Aprenden cómo crear productos sustentables para el cuidado personal y para el cuidado del hogar y la comunidad global. • Propiciar interacciones y conexiones entre nosotros mismos, nuestro medio ambiente y nuetstros materiales Descubrir los muchos puntos de impacto que tienen los niños en el cuidado personal, el cuidado de su escuela, el cuidado del hogar y de la comunidad, les enseña las conexiones entre los materiales y el medio ambiente. Los mismos materiales son usados en nutrición, cuidado global y diseño y pueden ser usados con una visión sostenible. • Vernos a nosotros mismos y a nuestro planeta como parte de un cosmos compuesto por los mismos elementos Los principios cuánticos conectan al ser, al planeta y al universo. La aplicación responsable de las ciencias como la química, la biología, las matemáticas y la física, demuestra la posibilidad de innovaciones de salto cuántico y nuevos descubrimientos.

VALUES: Global and Environmental Stewardship • Soil: Students learn how agriculture and compost can provide starting materials for not only food, but for products, textiles and tools. They learn the functions of plants and how to separate a single plant into multiple Essential Ingredients with vastly different properties, and how it is possible to use a whole plant with no waste while creating their own products. They learn how different soils will produce different properties in the same plant and that soil can be depleted or replenished depending on the way it is managed. • Matter: Students discover the properties of matter with hands-on experimentation. They create Essential Ingredients from the plants grown in the garden and use prior discoveries of other scientists to convert matter into new products for themselves and for others. They discover that there are multiple pathways to the same end result with vast differences in environmental and human impacts. • Water: Students learn the role of water as fuel for all facets of the earth’s processes in creating Essential Ingredients. Students become managers of products and processes for successful regeneration of water for themselves and for future generations. They develop new products that minimize water use in creation, use and disposal. • Places: Students recognize the earth as a global and universal community, interconnected through water, matter and soil. They learn how their actions impact this community. They create responsible processes and products to support the concept that ‘matter matters’. Community Stewardship • Ritual and Intention: The first step in formulating a new product is the ritual of pausing individually and collectively to consider the impacts of their actions. Students practice the act of gathering in large and small groups when exploring the elements in the setting of formulation chemistry to share thoughts, ideas, and specific plans for action. Students learn how to formulate products and at the same time learn the impacts of various alternative practices. They learn the value of intentionally choosing sustainable practices. • Unity: Students create an atmosphere of cooperation and sharing. Welcoming the ideas of others results in the delight of new discoveries for self. Students recognize that giving and sharing of knowledge speeds and deepens experience, and strengthens everyone. • Seasonality: Students learn how seasonality impacts the availability of Essential Ingredients and how to re-imagine their products with seasonally available ingredients. They recognize that the global community has seasons different than those they experience themselves and how that impacts the products, foods, tool and textiles needed for different parts of the world. • Gifting: Students understand and practice a culture of “gifting” to each other, their families and their communities from their thoughts and ideas in the labs to their creations and products in the labs. Personal Stewardship • Observation and Awareness Creation of Essential Ingredients and experimentation with new sciences provide opportunities for multi-pronged investigations. Collaboration as well as individual discoveries encourages the curiosity that brings awareness to students and recognition of cause and effect. Creating new unique products is not only the result but also the platform for the next discovery with Essential Ingredients. • Beauty and Confidence Demonstrating personal attention to health and knowledge of self-confidence brings beauty to all children. Inspiring beauty in others and in surroundings is a personal responsibility and delivers a message of both optimism and expectation to students about the world around them. • Interconnectedness Students at UMA recognize how their personal choices impact and influence the local and global community. Participating in the process of product creation invites recognition of relationships between product design and global sustainability.

Upper Mississippi Sample Schedules

9th Grade 1st Quarter

9th Grade 2nd Quarter

9th Grade 3rd Quarter

9th Grade 4th Quarter

Science

8:30 - 10:40 a.m.

Visual Arts

Language Arts

8:30 - 10:40 a.m.

World Geography

Mathematics

10:45 - 11:50 a.m.

Mathematics

10:45 - 11:50 a.m.

Mathematics

Lunch

11:55 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Lunch

11:55 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Lunch

Visual Arts

12:35 - 2:45 p.m.

Science

World Geography

12:35 - 2:45 p.m.

Language Arts

Exploratory River to River

2:50 - 4:25 p.m.

Exploratory Essential Ingredients

Design & Engineering/Robotics

2:50 - 4:25 p.m.

Exploratory Edible Schoolyard/Culinary

6th Grade 1st Quarter

Exploratory

6th Grade 2nd Quarter

6th Grade 3rd Quarter

6th Grade 4th Quarter

Mathematics & Science

8:30 - 10:40 a.m.

Humanities

Mathematics & Science

8:30 - 10:40 a.m.

Humanities

Phy Ed/Recreation

10:45 - 11:50 a.m.

Phy Ed/Recreation

10:45 - 11:50 a.m.

Phy Ed/Recreation

Lunch

11:55 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Lunch

11:55 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Lunch

Humanities

12:35 - 2:45 p.m.

Mathematics & Science

Humanities

12:35 - 2:45 p.m.

Mathematics & Science

Exploratory Edible Schoolyard/Culinary

2:50 - 4:25 p.m.

Exploratory River to River

Exploratory Music

2:50 - 4:25 p.m.

Design & Engineering/Visual Arts

Exploratory

Ninth Grade Earth Science Course Description

are interdisciplinary, self-directed and long-term; are connected to the local community; involve community experts; provide an opportunity for failure, reflection and improvement; ask the student to seek, create and/or transform knowledge; allow a final product with many potential forms; document the learning process; and are presented to the community by the creator(s).

• • • • • • • •

CR IP T

Ninth Grade Earth Science is a project-based class that involves students in projects that:

IO N

In Ninth Grade Earth Science students explore the geological history of the Earth and how this affects our communities. Through a series of challenging projects and scientific experiments students will define the components and characteristics of our local agricultural systems, understand the forces involved in the formation of the Upper Mississippi River Valley, interact with the issues of energy and climate change, and follow the dynamic lithosphere.

Ninth Grade Earth Science is heavily integrated with other 9th grade content areas, including Visual Arts. Students will have the opportunity to not only express an understanding of our geological world but to also present their ideas about the environment and the forces that continue to shape it to their peers, their families, and their community. Ninth Grade Earth Science is a community-centered course that strives to help students explore and interact with their community. Students have numerous opportunities to learn from local experts and share knowledge and ideas.

Project Examples

PL E

1. Soil & Compost Experiment Students are introduced to the garden by developing and presenting their soil and composting investigations as they relate to the Edible Schoolyard at UMA. 2. River Art Display Students explore various features of the Upper Mississippi River Valley as they relate to its geological history and create a map of the river in which they identify places that indicate this history. The map is turned into a three-dimensional visual arts display that communicates their ideas about the local environment as it relates to the river. 3. Renewable Energy Project Students design a stove powered by renewable energy as they learn about energy creation and consumption and how this relates to the issue of global warming. Stoves are used to help prepare a meal on International Day in the Teaching Kitchen. 4. Rocky Road Scientific Illustrations Students create original artwork displaying basic concepts of tectonic plates, the rock cycle, the rock record, and/or formation of fossils and fossil fuels. The visuals are used in comic strips that highlight the relationship between concepts. 5. Independent Project: The Night Sky During the semester students independently research celestial objects or events which may include stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies or constellations. Students summarize their research and take original pictures of their object/event. Students can schedule an appropriate time to use the school telescope or use community resources. Students will earn one full science credit in this course.

Upper Mississippi Academy Board Brad Blue, Ph D., Founder Director, Minnesota Guild Amy Elverum, Founder Science and EB/D specialist Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow John Hehre, Founder and Treasurer Member of the Platinum Group Bonnie Holub, PhD., Founder and Chair Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arclight Technology Consulting Honeywell Endowed Chair in Global Technology Management, University of St. Thomas Marcia Houtz, Founder and Secretary Adjunct faculty, University of St. Thomas Former Director of School Services, Science Museum of Minnesota Nancy Lyons, Founder President and Chief Executive Office, ClockWork Active Media Co-Founder, Geek Girls Martin Olav Sabo, Founder Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives Co-Chair of the National Transportation Policy Project of the Bipartisan Policy Center Pat Peterson Werre, Founder Vice President of Research and Product Development, Aveda Corporation (EstĂŠe Lauder Companies)