by staff writers Giselle Morris and Sofia Coffin

This year, BFMS began its exploration wheel: a system of four electives that rotates every trimester.

The four electives are Coding, Archeology, Art, and Health & Wellness. Each student is assigned three explorations every year.

Students do a mock dig at Bay Farm’s archaeology beds. Photo by Chloé Amaden.

The exploration wheel started is new and is only available to 6th and 7th graders. Eighth graders use their elective time to learn foreign language, which this year is French with Mr. Valois. Students in 8th grade also have other projects they use their time on, such as NaNoWriMo and graduation portfolio.

At the beginning of this year, the students taking Coding with teacher Lori Oducayen learned how to code Spheros (small, spherical robots), made a golf course and ran the Spheros through them. These students are now passing on the knowledge by teaching Mrs. Fong’s 3rd-grade class how to code a Sphero to complete a simple shape.

The next coding class is now making bridges, and experimenting with the always-entertaining Spheros.

In Health & Wellness, students worked on “The Great Discovery” Google slideshow. They also made “I believe” posters that represent what they believe in. This class also learns about how your how your body functions, the anatomy, and what types of food are beneficial for the human body. Health & Wellness is taught by teacher Joni Reynolds.

Sixth graders enjoy a class rotation on archaeology. Photo by Chloé Amaden.

In Archeology, the students of teacher Nancy Ely’s exploration class learn about King Tut’s tomb, the Ice Man, and how to make observations and inferences. At the end of the trimester, Ms. Ely took her students to perform a dig. Alone or in a group, the students create a slideshow focusing on a memorable dig of their choice.

In Art class, taught by teacher Katie Linderme, students drew their “spirit animals.” They worked on abstracts, 12-point perspectives and disappearing point.

“Art has changed the way I draw,” said Sonia C. “I learned so many great coloring strategies and I’m really thankful for Ms. Linderme! It is always quiet in there, because we are all doing our awesome projects! I love art!”