Cold Spring Harbor DNALC/Saint David's Joint Project Begins

Today, we kicked off our exciting partnership with the DNA Learning Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for our new fifth grade STE(A)M unit on DNA.

Boys also learned the necessity and history of classification, and became familiar with the parts and function of a compound light microscope.

For this first session, educators from the DNALC visited Saint David's and engaged fifth grade boys in a lab experience. The boys learned about the functional variation among animal cells, identifying organelles and other structures by their scientific names, and began to discover that, in nature, form fits function.

Today's lesson was the first in a series of sessions that will take place not only in Saint David's science labs, but also at the DNALC's lab in Cold Spring Harbor where our boys will examine and conduct observations of mutations in Drosophilafruit flies and C. elegant nematodes.

The boys will also visit the center's DNA Laboratory for investigations and experimentations with DNA Fingerprinting - and an introduction to gel electrophoresis.

Exciting, real world application, out-of-classroom units like this one demand that our boys think and analyze critically, engaging their scientific minds, while captivating their curiosity and imagination. Innovative, dynamic and engaging curriculum is a focus of the school.

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OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

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