Metro J-Term 2026: Proteins, Rabbits, and Biodomes
students building pentagons for the biodome
folded protein instructions for making pentagons
The result is a mutation that makes dimensional pentagons
Male and female rabbits stay separated
10 days at The Metro Schools teaching five periods of 5,6,7, and 8th grade students #urbanfarming #stemeducation and biology, bioengineering, and simple machines. My innovation this year was creating three teams in each period. There were surprises. Mainly that the kids are pros with the cameras!
The Surprises In The Photos On My Phone
They took bunny portraits
One to build a project, another to care for, feed, and manage whatever livestock I brought in that day, and the third? The #documentary team. I gave them a purpose, a camera, microphones, and a mission. They took some extraordinary pictures, most of which I had not seen yet. I will be doing this in every teaching experience I undertake from now on.
This is the first blog post in a series about my J-Term experiences. It is the story of learning about geodesics, Fibonacci sequences, protein folding, structures, environmental conditions, and predators.
From one period to the next, the "folded protein" instructions were misread, and the resulting mutation created a better system for building a biodome, keeping the rabbits safe and separate -- and avoiding those Fibonacci numbers of baby rabbits. I love my mission.
