2011-2012 Houghton Elementary PTO Enrichment Program
The enrichment programs are entirely supported by your generous contributions to the PTO fundraisers!! Thank you!
The PTO works each year to find programs which:
- Augment the educational curriculum for each grade
- Provide educational experiences which children might otherwise not have access to
- Are of exceptional quality and value
Winter-Spring 2012
February 9, 2012- (third grade) -Discovery Museum –Simple Machines
How can the smallest child in class lift the teacher without straining a muscle? Build a lever and see and feel how a lever helps accomplish work. Check out how levers impact the everyday world and take the lever challenge to design simple solutions to getting the ball rolling!
*This is an hour long INTRODUCTORY Simple Machines workshop using “the lever” as a focus. Students work in teams solving challenges and gaining an understanding of what simple machines are, how and why they are used and how mechanical advantage works.
February 16, 2012- (first grade) -New England Aquarium Rock Hopper Program
Using activity kits, masks and music, students turn an Aquarium staff member into a giant rockhopper penguin in this interactive stage program.
February 27, 2012 – (third grade) –Historical Perspectives – Ben Franklin
Benjamin Franklin delights students with his early days of mischievous adventure growing up in colonial America. His quest for personal independence takes him to bustling Philadelphia where he becomes a printer and establishes the country’s first lending library. He then becomes intrigued with the study of static electricity, and children join Ben in conducting some electrifying experiments. As he ages to his 70s, the call for America’s freedom beckons him, and he becomes pivotal in drafting both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Ben’s fascinating story ignites the natural curiosity of all students and challenges them to ask, “Why?” “What if?” and “What can I do to make a difference?”
March 13, and April 9, 2012 (grade four)-Blind Awareness
MAB Community Services will visit each of the fourth grade classrooms to discuss blind awareness.
March 15-16, 2012 (grade three and four)- Author, Melissa Stewart
Melissa Stewart will be visiting each of the third and fourth grade classrooms to read, discuss and sign books. You can check out more information about this author at her website, http://www.melissa-stewart.com/
March 30, 2012 (am kindergarten-second grade)-Pumpernickel Puppets
Pumpernickel puppets will perform The Three Billy Goats Bluff and The Lion and the Mouse.
April 2012 (date TBD) (grade two) – Mass Audubon – Plants
Massachusetts Audubon will be presenting a fun hands-on learning experience for the second grade classes to talk about the difference between living and non-living things, how plants survive, and what they need to grow.
April 26-27, 2012 – (grade four) – Mass Audubon – Plants
Massachusetts Audubon will be presenting a hands-on learning experience for the fourth grade classes to teach them about seeds. Students will open up a seed to look at the inside of a seed, learn about a seed’s life-cycle and finish with some activities that demonstrate how seeds move.
April 13, 2012 (fourth grade) Catch the Science Bug presents Engineering Enigmas
Our fourth grade students will learn how a team of electrical engineers works together to make chips for computers, TVs, and cameras. Students will experience the design process by working on a related hands-on project.
May 7, 2012 (pm kindergarten) – Fossils
Dressed for digging, intrepid fossil hunter Paulette Morin introduces children to the wonders of dinosaurs and our prehistoric past. This presentation touches on the who, what, where and when of the dinosaurs. With more than 100 fossil specimens and our enthusiastic storytelling, your children will be sure to learn and have fun.
May 8, 2012 (third grade) – Rainforest Reptiles
May 17, 2012 (second grade) – Museum of Science, Cryogenics: States of Matter
This advanced program illustrates core ideas about heat energy and transfer. Through live demonstrations, students learn the differences between the three main mechanisms of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. Students explore the definitions of heat and temperature, discover that all elements have specific melting and boiling points, show that light or even water can incinerate a piece of paper, and learn ways to differentiate between two cryogenics liquids.
June 7-8, 2012 (fourth grade) – Worcester Art Museum
The fourth grade students will take a field trip to the Worcester Art Museum to view the art in the collection they’ve studied this year. Following the guided tour, they will create artwork in the studio that builds upon their observations in the galleries.
