Portfolios are projects ILS students complete to showcase their learning. Students in the 7th and 8th grades complete one portfolio project each year. Beginning in the fall and extending through the academic year, students work through a nine-step process to reach their final result. Working individually with a single faculty member, students first must have their proposals approved, then develop a thesis statement and source list. Students spend much of the year in reading, studying, experimenting, and taking robust notes on their given topic. Faculty review and approve initial outlines, then students begin writing the first of three drafts. Their final products are diverse reflections of student personalities, interests, family backgrounds, and aptitudes.
Immanuel's faculty note that not all learning is best represented or imagined via written papers. However, the rigorous and creative process of working on a major project to completion guides students to value excellence and produce their best academic work. This honors the intellect and abilities of the individual student, pushing all to learn and grow, believing all are capable of such in depth work. While no student projects are ever perfect in the end, we celebrate each student's sense of wonder and delight, demonstrated through their dedicated efforts throughout the course of the year.
Science Portfolio Project- Apples: The Study of Decay (Ione, 7th Grade)
Introduction
Decay is the process of rotting or decomposing. It is sped up by moist, warm environments and is slowed down by cold, dry environments. Microscopic bacteria causes food to spoil. Tiny organisms consume unprotected food and cause them to rot. Although bacteria do a lot of damage, they also do many good and beneficial things such as breaking down organic materials, releasing carbon, and other nutrients to support life. Bacteria thrive best in dark, warm, and moist environments. This makes it easier to break down organisms quicker. Refrigerators cannot stop all bacteria from rotting food, but they do protect food in the short term and they let you keep food longer without fear of spoiling in only a few days. Another thing to note about bacteria is that they need moisture to survive. Dehydrating food slows down the process of decomposition.
Decay affects living things but it also affects organic materials like metal and wood. This study focuses on fruit decay specifically. Fruit decays because of microorganisms such as bacteria and mold. These microorganisms make food change color, get softer and smaller, and eventually over long periods of time, disappear.
In order to observe decay in fruit, this experiment took four ordinary apples and put them in four environments (oxygen, temperature, moisture, and light) for three weeks.
Hypothesis
Based on the different environments, the order of decay from most to least would be:
1) the apple in the water;
2) all of the apples left at room temperature;
3) the apple in the dark;
4) the apple in the refrigerator.