Student Views of the Expedition
A multimedia feature produced by students of Windsor 6. Media by Michaela, Molly, Kate, Cody, Nick, Jessica, Tate, Josh, Rikki, and Cassie. Music by Windsor 6.

Introduction:

In Windsor 6 we recently completed our winter expedition The Forces Are with Us. We learned about four forces of nature: gravity, heat, wind, and water; and transformed our learning into a dance performance for students, teachers, and visitors. All of our studies were focused around two guiding questions: How do the forces impact Earth and other objects in space? How do the forces impact history and culture?

Several of the major learning activities are desrcibed below. Be sure to check out the video that accompanies each section to learn about The Forces Are with Us.

In the Bag(s)
We had very peculiar costumes for the performance. They were bags! The bags were made from lycra, making them stretchy and see-through. Our costumes were made by our teachers, Mrs. McLean and Mrs. Pulire. In the video segment, you can see every kid getting into bags for the first time and performing a strange move. It was difficult to dance with the bags on, but Windsor 6 did a great job!

Force is Movement

In science class, we worked with our bodies to learn deeply about the forces of nature: gravity, heat, wind and water. We studied each of the forces traditionally. Then we developed dances, such as a solar system dance, to embody what we were learning. These dances eventually prepared us to take the stage as the forces of nature. The video to the right shows us dancing out the solar system in the science room and practicing our final dance.

Myths Join People and Forces

In Language Arts and Social Studies, we studied myths and disasters from around the world. As we learned about how the forces of nature have affected people's lives, we also discovered how myths help people explain events that are mysterious and sometimes disturbing.

Making Masks

To make the story really come to life on stage, students had to look the part. A group of students from Windsor 6 worked extremely hard on making the masks for the Forces show. The students who were on that team are artistic, very creative, and full of great ideas! Check out this movie of the mask makers and all the fun they had along the way!

Music is a Force

All the music in our performance was made by students in music class. We learned how to make a professional music C.D. using Garageband, a multitracking recording and mixing software. Garageband was really cool because we learned to see, hear, and create patterns that became songs. We combined tracks with different sounds to produce the music for our performance that matched the themes of our myths and forces.

Dancing It All

Finally, we were ready for the big day. We performed before an audience of students, our parents, and 75 teachers from around the country who were at King that day as part of the Expeditionary Learning Schools National Conference. You can watch the performance in sections:

Thanks and Giving Credit

See a collage of our collaborating partners and other activities that led up to our performance of The Forces Are with Us. Check out the credits of our movie.