Hebrew Day School - Ann Arbor, Michigan Judaic and general studies, Immersion Hebrew programs
 
 
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Academic Fair

Each year, Hebrew Day School students participate in an annual school academic fair. The students and teachers prepare displays and presentations to demonstrate their accomplishments in an academic area within the general studies curriculum. The theme rotates each year between science, math and geography-social studies. There is also often a demonstration of how these academic areas are reinforced within the Judaic Studies curriculum. All parents are invited.

In 2005-2006, the school presented a science fair. In the lower grades (Gan-2), the students participated in class projects around themes. In the upper grades (3-5), each student designed, conducted, and documented an individual experiment. In the course of preparing for this event, HDS students learned to:

  • ask questions about objects, organisms, and events in the environment;
  • identify those questions that can be answered through scientific investigation;
  • design and/or conduct an investigation to address an answerable question;
  • use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data;
  • use evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models;
  • communicate to others in written and oral formats the scientific procedures used.

HDS students used the process of inquiry to develop habits of mind that are employed in other academic arenas. These include:

  • welcoming opportunities for problem solving;
  • developing their natural originality and ingenuity;
  • drawing on past knowledge and applying it to new situations;
  • persevering even when solutions are not readily apparent;
  • becoming independent and flexible thinkers.

In 2004-2005, the academic fair theme was social studies, and the school also celebrated the 350th anniversary of Jews in America. HDS students presented a wide variety of interdisciplinary materials, including written materials and oral presentations, that combined history and social studies topics with our celebration of the 350thanniversary. Several of the projects involved the older children mentoring the younger grades. Click on one of the links to the right to see descriptions of projects and their corresponding standards in our curriculum.