Immersive
2
Exhibition Friday, June 11, 2021 10 a.m. – noon 12:45 – 2 p.m.
Dear Students, Families, and Friends, The Bay School students have been steeped in their Immersive courses for the last three weeks. The Immersive term culminates in an exhibition, normally an in-person community event that allows students to showcase their learning to a broad audience. This year, Exhibition will be virtual and we hope that parents, guardians, friends, and supporters will join us to celebrate and enjoy their own and other students’ work. This program contains brief descriptions of Immersive courses and their exhibition plans. Details about each course’s exhibition time and specific student presenters can be found on the Schedule of Events, a live document that may be updated until Exhibition begins. Please note that “Zoom room” capacity is 100 people; the “waiting room” feature will be enabled and teachers will be monitoring the addition of visitors throughout the session. We welcome you virtually to Immersive 2 Exhibition and thank you for joining us! Enjoy!
9th Grade HUMANITIES 1: EVERYONE HAS A STORY How does immigration shape and impact a community? This 9thgrade core Humanities Immersive focuses on immigration—and the impact of economics, politics, geography, and society on a family’s decision to emigrate from their home country. Through studying Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey, creating an Immigrant Narratives Project that explores the common threads within our families’ immigration stories, and embodying a US Senator/Congressperson to create a bi-partisan immigration bill, students learn that empathy begins with deeper awareness of the experiences of individuals. EXHIBITION Each class presentation will highlight student observations from the course, including takeaways and hopes. Families and friends will have a chance to listen to the Immigrant Narrative Projects online at their own leisure.
10th & 11th Grades ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: LAUNCHING NEARSPACE WEATHER BALLOONS This course studies the atmosphere through launching high-altitude weather balloons to the edge of space. Students make predictions about measurable characteristics of the atmosphere, and then put together the hardware and software that will test their hypotheses when the weather balloons are launched into the stratosphere. Before the launch, students work on managing group dynamics, launch checklists, and dealing with unforeseen complications in the field. EXHIBITION Students in this course are excited to share the balloons’ flight data, as well as offer reflections from their experience at the launch.
BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACEUTICAL DESIGN Modern medicine depends on the process of pharmaceutical design, a field that has revolutionized the human experience in the past century. How are new drug molecules discovered? How can an understanding of human biochemistry allow us to intentionally design pharmaceuticals? This course introduces students to the core concepts of pharmaceutical design: protein function, human disease, and the role played by bioinformatics in drug discovery and development. EXHIBITION Students in this course will share pre-recorded presentations of an infographic on a virus and vaccine of their choice. Students invite you to engage with them through a Q&A following each presentation.
THE BUSINESS OF THE SHORT STORY This course explores the literary form of the short story as a way to develop students’ facility with storytelling, an often undervalued skill called upon by a vast array of academic, technical, and sales-based professions. Students read, write, and analyze short stories while working collaboratively to build a short story anthology designed to be useful to high school students and teachers both locally and (with any luck) nationally. EXHIBITION Students will pitch their collection to the Bay School community and answer questions about its thematic vision, its design, and its business plan. Literary agents and publishers are encouraged to attend!
CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY: A FIELD EXPERIENCE How do geological regions relate to one another? Why is there so much gold in the Sierras? Where is it safe to live in California? In this field geology course, students explore the forces that create the grand features of California: the Cascade range, the Sierras, the Central Valley, the San Andreas Fault, the coastal ranges, and the Salton Sea. Through this course, students build an integrated, live understanding of the regions that make up this state, the formations they are made of, and how these formations interact with one another. EXHIBITION Students have each become experts on a given California Geomorphic Province. We invite you to virtually stop by and listen to students give a breakdown of what makes areas like the Coast Range, Great Valley, Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau geologically distinctive. Students have also planned a virtual field trip to lead viewers through some of the rocks, landforms, and processes that shaped the landscape to highlight their chosen province’s unique characteristics.
CONNECTING TO PLACE: LITERATURE AND CREATIVE PRACTICE This project-based interdisciplinary course combines reading literature, writing, and visual arts in an exploration of the idea of place at the individual, ecological, and societal levels. In this course, students develop their powers of observation and creative expression and, after researching the natural and cultural history of a locale, build a portfolio of writing and watercolor paintings that illuminate places of importance to them. EXHIBITION During Exhibition students will share the platform on which they have each posted their painting and writing portfolio, allowing visitors to comment and/or ask questions. The teachers and a panel of students will discuss the experiential learning process of the course and answer your questions.
FILMMAKING Why is film the best way to tell this story? In this Immersive, students learn how to answer this question by learning the art of filmmaking. Course members go through the stages of pre-production, production, and editing. Students learn to shoot from a script on location, act on a set and in front of a camera, or learn what it is like to crew on a film team. Finally, students edit the footage into a final, cohesive film. EXHIBITION The course culminates with a viewing of the class’s completed film. Join us to watch the film, followed by a Q&A with the writers, actors, and producers.
MYTHOLOGY In this course, students read a work of Greek or Roman mythology and compare it to the adaptations that came after it. How did the story change? Then, students pick a movie that they like that is based on a myth and research the source material. How old is the myth? What different versions are there? As a final project, students retell this myth through an artistic medium of their choice and in a way that conveys their values. EXHIBITION Students invite you to view their final works of art via Zoom, as well as pose questions to them about their process.
UNCOVERING CULTURAL BIAS IN AMERICA What assumptions do we make about other Americans? How can we use empathy to foster understanding? Are we one nation under God or a house divided? During this course, students critically examine key aspects of identity—race, religion, and class—and consider how these factors impact their own lives here in the Bay Area. In groups, students research a community of their choice to challenge assumptions they have about unknown places and formulate questions that critically examine cultural bias in America. EXHIBITION Each group has created two podcasts about topics related to race, class, and/or religion. Zoom in to hear students introduce their podcasts, discuss their process, and share what they learned about both their region of focus and themselves. Students invite you to listen to their final podcasts online at your leisure.
WATER IN THE AMERICAN WEST Whose water is it? This essential question drives this project-based, interdisciplinary course. In this course, students use the tools of science and humanities to investigate the myriad ways in which humans rely on water; the political, economic, and ethical issues stemming from our need for water; and how our quest for this critical resource has led us to reengineer natural ecosystems. EXHIBITION For exhibition, students have selected and investigated a western water topic of personal interest in an ongoing search for an answer to the guiding question: whose water is it? Students will present their findings and host a Q&A following their presentations, while reflecting on their research and their broader learning in this course.
THE WRITER’S LIFE: A CREATIVE EXPLORATION What do real writers compose, and how might we learn about and produce work in those genres as well? This course focuses on deep dives into writing: students who love to write will spend their time reading works by a range of authors, learning specific tools to give their writing stylistic flourish, taking each piece through multiple drafts, participating in whole-class and small-group workshops, and developing polished pieces that are ready for publication. EXHIBITION Students will present one creative work that they have developed during the course of this Immersive. Works range across genres including poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Students have drafted, revised, and edited each work with attention to craft moves explored during the course.
Thank you for joining us!