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:
Gravity: Earthquake Fish
Heat: The Coming of Fire
Wind: Keeper of the Winds
Water: Earth and Sky Reconcile
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.
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