Bridgewater Chocolate Grant: Enhancing the Science and Social Studies Curriculum
- School Year: 2023-2024
- Applicants: Catherine Woods, Lead Applicant & Marta Weidl, Kathryn Keenan
- School: Aiken
- Subjects: Science, Social Studies
"Aiken Elementary School students will visit the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History and participate in the program ""What Makes a Community?"" The first part of the program will allow students to explore exhibits to learn about how work, home life, and transportation were different in the past. In the second part of the program, students will use a large floor map and “building” blocks to strengthen map skills and vocabulary while creating and analyzing a new town. The final component will focus on how decisions are made in communities, as well as ways that children can be good citizens and contribute to their communities. Additionally, The Children's Museum of West Hartford will engage Aiken in an in-school learning program entitled Animal Adaptations & Habitats. Students at Aiken will be introduced to the Wildlife Sanctuary animals and work to determine the unique ways these animals adapt to meet their specific environmental needs. Students will participate in a hands-on experience where they compare similarities and differences between mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. "