Middle School Enrichment cluster Options
Middle school GT students choose an enrichment cluster based on their personal interests, strengths, and needs. Each cluster is composed of GT students from grades 6-8 - as opposed to grade level pull-out - thus allowing for more personally relevant and meaningful learning.
The STEM cluster is for students whose interest spans the realm of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. To start off the year, students in the STEM cluster will have opportunity to participate in a robotics competition.
BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology), is a national 6-week robotics competition held each fall, designed to help interested middle school and high school students in possible careers. The idea for a BEST competition originated when two Texas Instruments (TI) engineers were serving as guides for Engineering Day in Sherman, Texas. Together with a group of high school students, they watched a video of freshmen building a robot in Woodie Flowers' class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The high school students were so interested that Ted and Steve said, "Why don't we do this?"
Students will be given the materials needed to build and program a robot that will compete to assemble "wind turbines" while simultaneously observing the ecological impact upon the native "prairie chickens". In addition to the mechanical engineering and computer programming involved, there are other aspects to this competition including a T-shirt design competition, engineering notebook, and marketing booth. Team members will identify which aspects of the competition their talents can be best utilized.
Here's the link for our Regional Hub: uafs.edu/best/best-home
BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology), is a national 6-week robotics competition held each fall, designed to help interested middle school and high school students in possible careers. The idea for a BEST competition originated when two Texas Instruments (TI) engineers were serving as guides for Engineering Day in Sherman, Texas. Together with a group of high school students, they watched a video of freshmen building a robot in Woodie Flowers' class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The high school students were so interested that Ted and Steve said, "Why don't we do this?"
Students will be given the materials needed to build and program a robot that will compete to assemble "wind turbines" while simultaneously observing the ecological impact upon the native "prairie chickens". In addition to the mechanical engineering and computer programming involved, there are other aspects to this competition including a T-shirt design competition, engineering notebook, and marketing booth. Team members will identify which aspects of the competition their talents can be best utilized.
Here's the link for our Regional Hub: uafs.edu/best/best-home
The Humanities cluster includes two different literacy/social science-based classes. Students in these classes read a classic novel and through their analysis and discussion, will evaluate and synthesize their understanding into original dramatic performances, artistic creations, or other simulations. The connection to current and/or historical events is an important aspect in helping students make connections and draw their own conclusions.
Creative Problem Solving - The Creative Problem Solving class explores creative thinking and problem solving via the vehicle of Odyssey of the Mind. Often called OM (although the official acronym is OotM), is a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college. Team members work together at length to solve a predefined problem (the Long-term Problem); and present their solution to the problem at a competition. They must also participate in the Spontaneous competition by generating solutions to a problem they have not seen before. For more information, check out the website: www.odysseyofthemind.com.