Hello from Week 13 in Nicaragua!  The sun is shining upon us every day, sending down rays of happiness and energy as we visit with el gente and enjoy delicious comida.  The TTS21 family has been a busy group, using their Spanish skills to learn about the historical cities of Leon and Granada, and now speaking regularly with our group-stay family.  While in Granada, the girls set up teams of two, each specializing in one historical location, to then teach the rest of the group as walking tour guides.  Maggie and Abby were slightly disappointed to find the famous fort of Granada was closed, preventing the group from viewing the sunset from the guard tower.  Upon further practice of their Spanish translating skills and attempts to persuade the guard to let our school inside, they discovered the fort will actually be closed for a whole year, pending renovations.  Nevertheless, the walking tour was fantastic and will surely be rivaling the competition of Lonely Planet.

Classes have continued to progress each and every day, and the students have worked as a single team as they use their Spanish to learn about the world around them.   Kathryn translated an entire sustainable farming tutorial for the group at Finca Magdalena during the infamous TTS 3rd Annual Food Day.  Ruth taught the group about the United Fruit Company and their legacy in Nicaragua.  The science class argued the success and failures of GM foods, and the entire TTS group discussed NAFTA and CAFTA and the effects on Central America. Each class has been working hard in preparation for upcoming final exams.

Science:

The final segment of the semester has incorporated a closer look at agricultural practices around the world, as well as a more in depth study of both Guatemala and Nicaragua.  Students analyzed the composition of soil, and then completed a soil study in Santiago, Guatemala.  Students applied the soil identification triangle to accurately label the soil designation of the Lake Atitlan area.  Students observed the surrounding landscapes, recorded signs of past landslides, then problem solved to determine the different soil characteristics which would increase the probability for such disasters.  The study of agriculture continued with a discussion on sustainable agriculture, along with several guest speakers and experiential opportunities to local fincas (farms).  Students participated in a coffee finca tour, and applied their Spanish speaking skills to ask local Nicaraguan farmers about the local strategies and consequences of pest control.  Mikaela talked to several sources at Finca Magdalena, which led to a larger discussion within the classroom on the creation and implementation of pesticides throughout America.  Maggie, Eliza, and Abby embraced the opportunity to let their debating skills shine as students debated the pros and cons for genetically modified foods on Food Day.  The semester will culminate next week with students completing a research paper and oral presentation on an agricultural topic of their choice relating to Nicaragua.  Ava is focusing her studies on the effects of pesticides on the local biodiversity levels, and Ruth is analyzing the presence of physical and chemical resistance of organisms to the various pest control strategies of Nicaragua.

Algebra 2:

Students have continued to progress through the semester, completing several units of study in the past month and a half.  Students applied the principles of functions to graph and solve for inverse functions; they also analyzed conic functions, solving for critical points before constructing equations for parabolas, hyperbolas, circles, and ellipses.  Maggie and Ava regularly switched off using the whiteboard to teach various problems to the class.  They have embraced the opportunity to work together to problem solve through challenging questions, and have unanimously requested several times to hold extra classes to review the covered material.  The final unit of study on probability and statistics challenged students to identify inclusive or exclusive events, and then apply the correct equation to calculate the solution.  Students have analyzed standard deviation and the variance of several experiments then determined and identified the presence of outliers in the data sets.  The final cumulative exam will cover all chapters of the semester, with a stronger focus on the final two units of study.

– Jen

Math Concepts

The Math Concepts class has been very busy since our last update. The girls finished up the job search unit with mock job interviews based on the resumes and cover letters they created. Eliza interviewed for an internship with a green architecture firm; Simone applied for a position as a trail maintenance team leader; Kat interviewed for an internship with a non-profit in Nicaragua; and Annalise applied for work as a pharmaceutical tech. We then briefly studied saving, investing, and some basics of economics in order to lay foundation for the girls to understand the economics of NAFTA and CAFTA. Our study of these free-trade agreements culminated with a round table discussion on Food Day that was attended by all members of TTS21. The girls each took on a different persona and discussed the pros and cons of NAFTA and CAFTA from their assigned perspective. We completed our study of trade with a class debate on the World Trade Organization. Kat and Annalise argued in support of the WTO while Eliza and Simone argued against.

The last unit of our semester will allow us to take a step back from the global economy to investigate our own personal priorities. Our final Happiness Unit will pull in ideas from the iLife workshop on life passions and previous Math Concepts discussions on choosing a fulfilling job path. As girls read articles and complete a final project requiring them to look toward their future and contemplate how they will balance financial goals with less concrete, but certainly not less important, goals in areas such as lifestyle preference and needs for personal growth and fulfillment.

Pre-calculus

Emelia and Ruth continue with dedicated hard work in Pre-calculus. After completing our study of trigonometry, we moved on to conic sections including circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas. The girls learned to mathematically appreciate the parabolic reflectors behind their headlamps that focus the light into a beam allowing them to study in tents after dark. They also had fun in a demonstration on the properties of ellipses that uses tacks and string to draw perfect elliptical arches. Ruth and Emelia are now finishing up their study of sequences and series with a small project involving the Sierpinski Triangle. We will finish the semester with a brief study probability and a final exam.

Beginning Spanish

The girls of the beginning Spanish class have continued to build on the enormous progress they made at the Mountain School. They have engaged in conversations with surf instructors, tour guides, hostel owners, and guest speakers. They have become comfortable asking questions to order food and navigate towns and have moved on to much more complicated conversations about daily life and culture with locals. Mikaela and Ruth used their Spanish skills to ask our guest speaker at Finca Magdalena about organic farming practices. Eliza and Simone practiced Spanish while playing with local children during recent community beach day with Project WOO. Abby continues to fearlessly engage in conversation with adults and children alike, always learning. Ava’s in-depth study of the uses of saber versus conocer and por versus para at the Mountain School prepared her to be a leader in our class discussions. We have studied various other grammar topics in class in order to give formal background to what the girls are learning through their immersion experiences. Additional topics have included the present progressive tense, weather expressions, the personal a, and reflexive verbs. We will complete the semester with an individual oral exam for each student and a group skit to showcase the girls’ Spanish skills. The skit will be performed one night in the Corn Islands and promises appearances from most influential people we have met on our trip.

--Heather

Advanced Spanish

To learn with your heart and not with your eyes, is a theme from El Principito (The Little Prince) that the girls will be elaborating on for their final essay as they wind down their semester here in Central America.  In addition, they have been reading, translating, and presenting current event articles and continuing to have conversations with the people we meet.  Each girl has had to complete a final project based on her level of fluency.  Kathryn translated the 1-hour presentation of our guest speaker, Felix Pascual, at La Finca Magdalena, while Annalise talked to the local workers to gather information about the petroglyphs on Ometepe Island and presented it to our group.  Anna and Emelia created exchange activities with our groupstay family, Don Ramon y Dona Lucia, in Playa Gigante, where we played name games and learned all the words to Cielito Lindo..."ay, yay, yay, yay, canta, no llores", (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjJDv1IeF8I) while Don Ramon accompanied us on the guitar.  It's been quite a week for immersion here in Playa Gigante and the girls have been taking full advantage!   --Liz