One of the great things about Joaquin Miller and some of the other schools in Oakland is that the teachers work in concert with each other. Second grade science is taught by one teacher, another teaches social studies and a third teaches art, teasing out cultural nuances by what is in the background.

For their writing assignments my daughter’s class uses the garden in the front of the school. They’ve written about the humming birds that have appeared for three consecutive weeks and have watched and written about a female spider who lured, and caught a bee. Classroom experiments include physical science of balance and counter balance, as well as push and pull (reaction and equal and opposite reaction).

I would be interested to hear what other schools are doing in their science programs.