Enrichment Programs funded by the PTO
Kindergarten
Animal Adventures
Their program features 8-10 exotic animals presented in a one hour format where the children will get to pet and learn about them from one of our expert zookeepers.
Learn more here: https://www.animaladventures.net/
Discovery Museum
Force & Motion: What makes an object move? Can we control the movement? Does the strength of a push or pull have an effect? How about the direction of the push or pull? What happens when objects move past each other or collide? Students explore concepts of force and motion while interacting with a variety of toys, balls and vehicles.
Learn more here: https://www.discoveryacton.org/
First Grade
Discovery Museum
Sound Workshop: Plunging a vibrating tuning fork into a bowl of water creates quite a spray as students learn that sound is vibration. Students actively engage in exploring sound, creating unique sound makers with household materials.
Light & Laser Workshop: As students compare white light and laser light they identify key properties including how light must be reflected in order to be seen. Students work with flashlights, prisms, lenses, and a variety of materials that block, reflect, or allow light to pass through.
Learn more here: https://www.discoveryacton.org/
Explore the Ocean / World Tidal Pools
Students will have a chance to experience, hands on, creatures from the Gulf of Maine salt marsh, rocky shore, and the deep sea.Each presentation is unique. The animals differ daily depending on what new and exotic things the commercial fishermen bring in. The animals range from the common sea star to the deep water sun star, spiny crab or horseshoe crab.
Learn more here: http://exploretheoceanworld.com/
Plimouth Museums
Their in-school classroom visits are delivered by Native museum teachers, who dress in modern clothing and speak from a modern perspective. This allows them to discuss the story of their people in past and present times. Their museum teachers will bring a variety of artifacts for students to touch and view.
Learn more here: https://plimoth.org/for-teachers/bring-plimoth-patuxet-to-your-school/classroom-visits
Second Grade
Discovery Museum
Physical Changes in Matter Workshop: Investigating the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases has never been so much fun! In this most popular workshop, dry ice and liquid nitrogen make learning the phase changes very dramatic as together we change liquid water to gas, shatter flowers and rubber bands, use a banana as a hammer, and even shrink solid metal in just a few seconds.
Learn more here: https://www.discoveryacton.org/
Billy B - Bio Bio Biodiversity Show
Billy B. uses science, humor, music, dance, and audience participation to introduce the wonder of our earth’s biodiversity, why it is declining, and how we can help to protect it. Billy B. hopes to educate people of all ages about biodiversity by introducing issues such as pollution, deforestation, and overfishing and how other human behaviors affect the biodiversity of our earth. This show was commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund as a complement to the traveling exhibit entitled Biodiversity 911.
Learn more here: https://yamass.org/biodiversity
Third Grade
Paul Revere House
Midnight Ride: Find out what really happened during Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Separate the facts from the myths surrounding the ride, then retrace Revere’s route from his home in North Square towards the Charles River. Children don hats and carry props as they go, taking on the roles of Paul and Rachel Revere, their children, British soldiers, rowers, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and others.
Learn more here: https://www.paulreverehouse.org/
Andover Historical Society
Andover at Work in the 1820s: Students learn about Andover through the eyes of people who lived and worked in Andover in the early 19th century. Students don aprons and get to work gathering eggs in the barn, trading them in the general store, printing in the print shop, fighting a fire in a fire brigade, and grinding spices in the kitchen. Costumed guides lead students through a variety activities through the Amos Blanchard House and Barn.
Learn more here: https://andoverhistoryandculture.org/
Fanse Kids
Water Program: A fun and engaging, hands-on, STEAM-based food, nutrition and health education programs for school-aged children and families that are presently in an online at-home learning format. The goal is to promote food and nutrition literacy that will translate to improved eating habits, decreasing overweight and obesity, and enhancing overall health.
Learn more here: https://www.fansekids.com/
Fourth Grade
Mind Your Business
All of their programs introduce the basics of running a business to school-age kids, grades 4 – 8.
Grounded in examples of real businesses, students are divided into mock companies which they name and operate over several sessions, each time facing a new business challenge. Kids rotate through roles like CEO, CFO, and marketing manager to experience a variety of jobs.
They have fun working together to strategize and run a production cycle -- buying raw materials, building products, and selling their finished goods in the “market.” At the end of every session, each company calculates revenues, costs, and profits, which are then presented and discussed for continuous improvement.
This engaging approach to learning inspires students as they develop important skills.
Learn more here: https://www.mybprogram.org/programs
The Geography Game Show
USA 48 Program/North America Show: Lesson features incorporated into each program will include location, history, compass, learning techniques, and several other engaging features that will inspire students in their educational pursuit.
Learn more here: http://www.geographygameshow.com/index.html
Fifth Grade
In this immersive program, students explore the model sky on an inflated planetarium as it changes due to the effects of Earth’s rotation and orbit. They also observe the Moon in its current phase and discuss how it changes over time. Later, they learn which planets are currently visible, how to find them, and the reasons for the current controversy over how a planet is defined.
Learn more here: https://www.mos.org/traveling-programs/starlab-portable-planetarium-3-5
ArtQuest Frontier Art
Art Quest is a unique educational program designed to develop thinking skills through observation of visual works of art. Art Quest integrates art history and art appreciation with class curriculum providing students with an opportunity to learn visually.
An in-depth discussion and observation of painters of the expanding new frontier. Students will analyze and interpret the different viewpoints illustrated in the works of art. Artists included are landscape painters Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran; action painters Fredrick Remington and Charles Russell; Indian portrait painter George Catlin; and genre painter George Caleb Bingham. The theme of this lecture is appropriate for students studying the expansion of the American West.
Learn more here: http://www.artquestprograms.com/seminars.asp?sh=3u&id={BFC5D013-BBF6-4593-B6B6-F5E67F25BA9A}
Techsploration programs are designed to introduce students to technology, science, and problem solving in a fun and exciting way.
Techsploration uses a wide variety of methods – huge props, slides, juggling, and even balloon tying – mixed with lots of humor, to teach technological and scientific concepts. In addition to being fun, the activities are highly educational. They reinforce the school’s curriculum, illustrate how concepts are applied to real life situations, and incorporate state standards.
Techsploration at West Elementary includes the following shows:
• Electricity Show—Shocking Facts of Electricity
• Electricity Workshop—Circuits and Electricity
• Weather Show—The Science of Weather
Learn more here: https://www.techsploration.com/