Catapults and a Vietnam War battle were the two topics that Riverside Intermediate School students discussed with the Plymouth School Board last week. Principal Kyle Coffman explained that as part of the school’s SOAR block, which stands for Securing Outstanding Academics at Riverside, students have the chance to explore topics of interest to them.
During the first quarter, students in teacher Sarah Gillard’s class completed a couple projects. The first was to research and build their own catapults. The students studied the history of catapults, going all the way back to Ancient Greece. Then, they built their own out of Popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and tape, and tried to see how far they could launch a lima bean. Along the way, the students say they learned history, rocket sciences, and how to find averages.
For their second project, Mrs. Gillard’s students decided to create a diorama of the Vietnam War Battle of Ia Drang. They said they read books on the battle, did online research, and then wrote about the topic. Then, they worked with Art Teacher Jeff Hunter to create the diorama itself. Some of the skills the students reported picking up range from teamwork and perseverance, to the rules of warfare and how to carve mountains out of Styrofoam.
