By Marsha Bartulec  — Erie, Colorado … From seed germination to saving our planet, and Rube Goldberg machines to self-exploration, learning is happening at Vista Ridge Academy. Students confidently explained their work in video presentations as each classroom held a virtual Exhibition of Learning Night for their family and friends.

Exhibition Nights are a great way to see Vista Ridge Academy’s real-world, “project-based learning” curriculum in action.

The third and fourth grade classroom published a book together of their endangered animals. Each student illustrated a picture of their endangered animal and wrote a report for the book.

Third grader, Hugh, enjoyed recording his presentation for his classroom’s “Animal Showtime.”

“I pretended to snorkel of the shores of California and shared facts about endangered vaquitas. Vaquitas are a porpoise, a little smaller than a dolphin, and there are only ten left in the wild,” Hugh said.

The fifth and sixth grade classroom learned about Rube Goldberg, an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadgets performing simple tasks in an indirect and overly complicated way, also known as Rube Goldberg machines.

Sixth grade, Lilly, enjoyed building a Rube Goldberg machine with her partner. After three weeks and about an hour or two a day Lilly’s team had success with their machine.

“The task we chose was to put toothpaste on a toothbrush. We used duct tape and cardboard to make ramps, dominoes, and string. I learned by trial and error and that it will not work on the first try,” Lilly, commented.

Exhibitions are an important component of project-based learning and assessment and provide a comprehensive view of each student’s knowledge and mastery of essential skills and content standards.

Click below to watch each classrooms Exhibition of Learning.

Preschool & Pre-K: Seed Germination

https://vimeo.com/545311705

Kindergarten: Taking Care of our Planet, in honor of Earth Day

https://vimeo.com/539956965

First and second grade: Review of Old Testament Bible Stories and Memory Verses

https://vimeo.com/544801676

Third and fourth grade: The Animal Showtime – Endangered Animals

https://vimeo.com/544394934

Fifth and sixth grade: Rube Goldberg Machines

https://vimeo.com/541948624

Seventh and eighth grade: World History Final Projects

https://vimeo.com/542315193

–Marsha Bartulec is the Vice Principal of Administration at Vista Ridge Academy; photo supplied.