8th Graders will investigate responsibility throughout the year to prepare for their final Independent Study expedition!
Polaris middle school students spend the whole year focusing on one guiding question in science and one in social studies. They investigate this topic from different angles to create well-informed answers to the guiding question by the end of the school year.
“Where does responsibility lie?” will be the guiding force behind the 8th grade expedition in social studies. Through an in-depth study of the Holocaust and Japanese internment, students will question not only who is responsible for these atrocities, but also who is responsible for ensuring they never occur again. This expedition will culminate in a student-chosen research project of other genocides, which must be learned from and never forgotten.
The 8th graders science expedition will focus on responsibility. Students will learn about Enrico Fermi, his contributions to science and his involvement in the Manhattan Project which produced the first atomic bombs. Then students will hear about Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who lived in Hiroshima in 1945 and later developed leukemia from the effects of radiation. After investigating responsibility from two very different perspectives, students will conduct their own expedition during their independent study related to responsibility.
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