What does Cambridge learning look like at GHCDS? Sometimes, it looks like a Sixth Grade science classroom filled with microscopes, creative materials, lots of collaboration—and students discovering just how much they can learn by doing.
Our Sixth Grade scientists began by investigating plant and animal cell samples under microscopes, observing firsthand the structures they had been studying. Then it was time to put that understanding to work!
Working collaboratively, students designed and constructed their own plant cell models. Each group moved through the process from preliminary design to selecting materials and assembling a model that accurately represented the different parts of the cell.
But the learning didn't stop when the models were finished.
Students participated in a gallery walk, with one member of each group serving as the “expert” while classmates rotated through the room. Our student experts explained their design decisions, identified cell structures, and shared why their group selected particular materials to represent them.
This is Cambridge learning in action—moving beyond simply memorizing information to investigating, applying knowledge, collaborating, communicating ideas, and reflecting on the learning process.
And the growth was easy to see! Just one day earlier, many students weren't confident they could identify the different parts of a cell without referring to their books. By the end of the activity, many were naming structures independently and explaining them to their classmates.
The lesson ended with one final question: How do models help us as learners?
Because understanding how we learn can be just as important as understanding what we learn.
Curious. Collaborative. Confident. Engaged. That's our Panther scientists—and Cambridge learning—at work!
