Seasons of Seven Flex

• Topics will include: 
  • The eye and vision, visual centers of the brain
  • How light travels, shadows, waves, colors
  • Refraction, Snell’s Law, lenses, prisms, Goethe and Newton
     

• Some aspects that will be covered will include:
  • The Endocrine system
  • Structure of the cell
  • Male and female reproductive organs
  • Conception of the embryo
  • Phases of Embryonic development
  • Phases of child development
  • Phases of adult development
    
    

The Novel: In this main lesson block, we will examine the genre of the novel through the prism of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. This classic was produced during the time when the genre was in its fullest development and creates the opportunity for students to become familiar with the challenges of reading historical writing. We will study various elements of the novel, such as story, plot, and character, as well as aesthetic and thematic development as the novel genre grows and changes over time.

With this understanding, students will workshop excerpts from their own “novel.” This will create an opportunity to apply these specific aspects of fiction to their own work, as well as practicing the use of rich vocabulary, imagery, and other written conventions. Additionally, students will work on both self and peer editing skills to solidify their grasp of correct grammar, spelling, and mechanics.

Finally, we will explore questions of translations, abridgments, and omissions. Noticing these changes and how they depend on the audience and historical period of a publication continues to be relevant in how language is used and influenced in our contemporary world.

During this year, we will also look at several interesting math puzzles.

Permutations, Combinations & Probability Main Lesson:

“Probability is the very guide of life.” -Cicero"

The Permutations, Combinations & Probability Main Lesson is an exploration into possibilities and chance. We will learn how to find the number of possible outcomes in an event and then use these outcomes to discover the likelihood of a specific outcome occurring. Along the way, we will learn how probability theory developed during the 17th century and we will look at various applications.

Ancient Civilizations: During this Main Lesson block, the students will experience the development of human consciousness through the study of ancient civilizations. Students will consider the role of nature, geography, technology, and resources on the development of societies, culture, and religion. They will also reflect on how ancient peoples developed knowledge and understood the world around them.

As tenth graders, students will be looking at a variety of primary source materials and stories to help them gain a deeper understanding of these ancient cultures. Tenth grade students are ready to seek to understand how and why things are the way they are, and this block will support the students as they develop their ability to understand patterns, comparisons, and cause-and-effect. Students will engage in discussion, compose a variety of written reflections, and create artistic renderings to enhance our learning.

Physics: Physics: Optics- Of all of our senses, our vision connects us with the outside world, giving us knowledge by which we make decisions large and small. During this block, we will explore the somewhat mysterious process of seeing. We will first look at the human eye and brain, before exploring the nature of light. Students will conduct hands-on experiments and be encouraged to explore and make connections in the natural world.

Topics will include: 
• The eye and vision, visual centers of the brain
• How light travels, shadows, waves, colors
• Refraction, Snell’s Law, lenses, prisms, Goethe and Newton

Public Speaking: During this main lesson block, the students will explore the history of oration, and be given tips and tricks to help them develop confidence during presentations, developing their public speaking skills. In addition, the intellectual capabilities of the tenth graders will shine as they demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge and research in order to engage in comparative thinking discussions and debates. 
Students will also read and prepare inspirational speeches and monologues to share.  Every week the students will also engage in artistic explorations inspired by the work that we will do. Multimedia work will cover the basic elements of design, color layering, composition, harmony, balance, and contrast.
 

Biology: Embryology - This Main Lesson will take us from the very beginnings of human life and the formation of the reproductive cells, to the challenges facing human beings in old age.The emphasis will be on identifying different processes involved in human growth and development and how these continue throughout life.We will use various artistic means to explore the characteristics of these processes, to enable us to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of them.

Some aspects that will be covered will include:

• The Edocrine system
• Structure of the cell
• Male and female reproductive organs
• Conception of the embryo
• Phases of Embryonic development
• Phases of child development
• Phases of adult development

Poetry: Poetry is perhaps the oldest form of literature, as verse was used to share and preserve many ancient stories. In this block, we will explore the development of poetry and its many forms around the world from ancient times. Students will gain a familiarity with rhythm and the structure of various poetic forms by reading, listening to, and trying their hand at writing a variety of poems. Sharing work, giving feedback, and revising will be another aspect of the class. By the end of the block, each student will have a beautiful collection of their own poetic and artistic work, and a class anthology will be created highlighting each student’s favorite poems.

We will also explore meaning in the poetry that we write and read. The students will be given context for where various forms were developed in history and geography, and seek to find explicit, implicit, and more subtle clues to help us understand what an author might have been trying to convey. Students will be encouraged to use, explore, and listen to, the richness of language that comes with writing, reading, and enjoying poetry.

Class Play: Drama can have a transformative effect on students and a class. Students in the tenth grade are ready to step out into the world with greater confidence and try new things! Acting allows us to experiment with trying on new characters and feelings in a safe and temporary way. Students will explore with various acting exercises and monologues. This block will take us through the the process of producing and acting in a virtual play as a class, and give students the language and background to familiarize them with

Students will also be tasked to work more consciously with speech. Through our drama work, the students will experience the nuances that can be reflected through clear and careful enunciation and intonation, and the experience of imbuing language with feeling and mood, to bring speech to life through sound and gesture. Students will engage in various acting exercises and monologues as we discover the richness of language written in dramatic works.

Earth Science: Gardening- Themes of this block: Agriculture and Gardening, Geomorphology, Geology, Climatology

One inner aspect of the high school student experiences is the expansion of the power of individual judgement which stirs within a desire for knowledge and the first steps on the search for one’s future. Through this main lesson block, we will strive to begin forming an understanding of the qualitative richness and order of the kingdoms of nature while also studying the dynamic life of Earth. Human, deeply held, need to live in harmony with nature will be explored through practical experiences in the realm of forests as well as agricultural and gardening practices. Lessons will guide students through practical and imaginative explorations of the main themes of this block. In the process, students will refine their observation skills in a controlled manner and employ their imaginative abilities while being challenged to imagine the processes and the ways in which they affect Earth and life on Earth.

Math Track: This course will cover the fundamental concepts of geometry and will lead into Algebra II, Trigonometry and Logarithms. We will begin with an overview of basic geometrical forms such as triangles and quadrilaterals. We will then look more at angles and the relationship these have in and out of circles. As the year progresses, we will go from analyzing the areas of triangles and circles to looking at the volumes of more complex, three-dimensional figures such as cones and spheroids. We will also look at the Pythagorean Theorem, ratios and proportions of geometrical objects, proofs and basic trigonometry. This will continue into the spring semester where we will pick up with an extensive review of solving linear and quadratic equations. The class will learn to simplify complex expressions and solve intricate equations. We will also delve into analytic geometry (graphing).

Greek Geometry Main Lesson:

The 10th Grade Greek Geometry Block is an exploration into the Greek mathematical mind. Beginning each day with Pythagoras’s Golden Verses, we ask the questions that the Greeks also asked for the first time in humanity’s history: How do we know what we know? The essence of proof is explored, and, through the well-known Pythagorean Theorem, many different kinds of proofs were experienced. Proof is what brought the Pythagoreans to crisis when they proved that the diagonal and the side of any square were incommensurable! The power of pure thought and the true nature of the perfect circle (as something that resides only in our minds) were explored. , that number defined by a circle, is another mysterious incommensurable number, which nevertheless, Archimedes found a reliable way to approach. Between Pythagoras and Archimedes came Euclid, the Father of Geometry. Understanding the new Greek motivation to know the world through observation and thinking (rather than story and tradition) allows us to see why Euclid devoted his life to the systematic construction of theory after theory, based only on a handful of assumptions (postulates), definitions, and logical presuppositions. Finally, after practicing our hand at the Great Greek Geometric Game using only compass and straightedge, we apply our own formidable powers of thought to understanding Euclid’s own proof of the Pythagorean Theorem.

Tragedy and Comedy: This main lesson explores the opposing genres of tragedy and comedy. We will begin with the origins of drama in ancient Greek religious festivals, and follow the themes of self-awareness, transformation, wisdom, foolishness, and human responses to the world around them. Our work will center on two plays: the ancient Greek tragedy of Antigone by Sophocles, and the French comedy The Imaginary Invalid by Molière.

This course also helps scaffold strong work habits. We will build skills for reading plays as distinct from reading prose, and discuss how this changes our role as a reader. Additionally, students will learn and utilize specific note taking systems and practice transforming those notes into longer essays in their own words.

There are two significant artistic assignments in this course. Students will choose short sections from the varying plays, work with the imagery and sound of the language, and present their selections to the class. Additionally, over the course of the block, students will create an artistic rendering of one character from each play.

Physics: Optics- Of all of our senses, our vision connects us with the outside world, giving us knowledge by which we make decisions large and small. During this block, we will explore the somewhat mysterious process of seeing. We will first look at the human eye and brain, before exploring the nature of light. Students will conduct hands-on experiments and be encouraged to explore and make connections in the natural world. 

Topics will include: 
• The eye and vision, visual centers of the brain
• How light travels, shadows, waves, colors
• Refraction, Snell’s Law, lenses, prisms, Goethe and Newton

Parzival I and II: “The eleventh grade is a turning point in the adolescent’s Waldorf experience. Out of the richness of the courses, teenagers are placed in touch with their inner resources and higher selves.” – Betty Staley

This eleventh year of the school journey brings students face-to-face with inner questions that arise within them and push them to contemplate existential realities. They encounter within themselves questions that may not have answers they expect or may not have definitive answers at all. The experiences prompt them to learn to be with open-ended questions while striving to accomplish their tasks and to take responsibility for all their work.

During this main lesson block, students will explore the medieval story of Parzival and his quest while in the process encountering their own relationships between themselves and others as well as their relationship to their own inner experiences and questions like ‘Who am I?’, ‘How can I relate to you?’, or ‘Where can the truth be seen?’.

Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach was written in the early thirteenth century and is a very complex tale of love, adventure, courage, and a quest that becomes the weaving of the life story. The story tells of Parzival’s journey from ignorance, through doubt, to looking for the grail which in this story is a mysterious source of the power to nourish and heal.

While the story dates to the Middle Ages the adventures and encounters in the story are still very alive for our modern age in their myth and symbolism, but also in the universally human life paths illuminated within the story. Class 11 students will set out on a quest of their own during this main lesson block – a quest to find ways to articulate deep inner truths and/or struggles, to discover the importance of asking questions, the meaning held within sacrifice, courage, and love,

Students will work on rather challenging reading and will be invited to practice their capacities for independent and analytical thinking through several written assignments. Some of their assignments will prompt them to explore questions like, ‘What is destiny?’, ‘What is compassion?’, ‘Why can one feel alone even in a crowd?’; and for some they will be guided to choose their own topics and areas of focus. In the process, we will dive deeply into the scenes from the book, the symbolism woven into the story, and the characters and their unique aspects. We will enliven the work of writing and reading through class conversations, artistic work in watercolor and pencil illustrations, and the readings of dramatized retellings.

"Societies have come to define themselves by their historical myths and national narratives. … what is the story we are living within? Where is our story taking us?” – D. Blight.

Biology: Embryology- This Main Lesson will take us from the very beginnings of human life and the formation of the reproductive cells, to the challenges facing human beings in old age.The emphasis will be on identifying different processes involved in human growth and development and how these continue throughout life.We will use various artistic means to explore the characteristics of these processes, to enable us to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of them.

Some aspects that will be covered will include:

• The Edocrine system
• Structure of the cell
• Male and female reproductive organs
• Conception of the embryo
• Phases of Embryonic development
• Phases of child development
• Phases of adult development

Class 11 Internship: One of the main themes of 11th grade is the theme of journey. Students develop a sense of objectivity and are able to see things and write and tell about them from various perspectives. During this block they will journey out into the world to feel their place in the world, to widen and strengthen their capacities for social grace and tact, to experience working under a community mentor, and to have a taste of the life and social dynamics in professional areas of life.

Students will be encouraged to seek for these experiences to happen in areas of their particular interests or even potential future careers, and they will need parent and family support to find and confirm these arrangements well ahead of time so that they are ready to make the most of this block.

This will be a deep experience for the students and will take them into meaningful journeys at workplaces, ideally lasting 8 days (4 days in week 2 and 4 days in week 3). At the end of the block they will prepare presentations to share what they learned and what their experiences involved. These will be presented to our class community (including class parents) during live zoom lessons of Week 4 of the block, and submitted as recordings and presentation files in the assignment portal, too.

“By the end of Grade 11 the students begin to attain objectivity in their feelings and thus increasing capacity to form judgments of taste, style and social tact. They bring mobility into their thinking, which goes beyond the logical causality of their thinking in Grade 10 and can now synthesize and correlate different factors within a holistic view. They are also able to think about infinite and nonsense-perceptible phenomena. The students have a self-directed sense of social responsibility and are able to correlate and integrate related phenomena in a more holistic understanding.”
~ (From: The Educational Tasks and Content of the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum 2000)

 Earth Science: Gardening- Themes of this block: Agriculture and Gardening, Geomorphology, Geology, Climatology

One inner aspect of the high school student experiences is the expansion of the power of individual judgement which stirs within a desire for knowledge and the first steps on the search for one’s future. Through this main lesson block, we will strive to begin forming an understanding of the qualitative richness and order of the kingdoms of nature while also studying the dynamic life of Earth. Human, deeply held, need to live in harmony with nature will be explored through practical experiences in the realm of forests as well as agricultural and gardening practices. Lessons will guide students through practical and imaginative explorations of the main themes of this block. In the process, students will refine their observation skills in a controlled manner and employ their imaginative abilities while being challenged to imagine the processes and the ways in which they affect Earth and life on Earth.

 Math: This course will cover topics from Algebra II and Precalculus. We will begin with a thorough introduction (possibly review depending on grade level) of 2D Cartesian coordinates. After that we will move on to reviewing Trigonometry and then go into Complex Numbers. This will be followed by combining all three subjects together along with an extensive review of algebra and an introduction of function terminology. Along the way, the class will look at graphs and roots of polynomials, exponential and logarithmic functions, ambiguous cases in trigonometry and much more.

Projective Geometry Main Lesson:

“An approach to the secrets of space from the standpoint of artistic and imaginative insights.”- Lawrence Edwards

The 11th Grade Projective Geometry Block is a challenging, highly imaginative exercise, stretching the limits of our traditional “Euclidean” worldview. Through various geometric constructions first discovered by Pappus, Desargues, Pascal and Brianchon, students explore the ways in which mathematicians for 2000 years flirted with the ideas which we now recognize as projective constructions. The effort moved forward when artists in the 15th century began to wonder how to depict scenes on flat paper which appeared to be three dimensional. PG was only recognized and developed in the 19th century. Through these explorations, we will come to appreciate a completely unfamiliar space reality which is just as valid, and in fact more generally true, than the one with which we are more used to dealing.

 Physics: Optics- Of all of our senses, our vision connects us with the outside world, giving us knowledge by which we make decisions large and small. During this block, we will explore the somewhat mysterious process of seeing. We will first look at the human eye and brain, before exploring the nature of light. Students will conduct hands-on experiments and be encouraged to explore and make connections in the natural world. 
Topics will include: 
• The eye and vision, visual centers of the brain
• How light travels, shadows, waves, colors
• Refraction, Snell’s Law, lenses, prisms, Goethe and Newton 

Government/Philosophy: This block immerses students in the many timeless questions that are posed in the study of philosophy. Students will explore the origin and evolution of government and philosophy and learn about the times, lives, and intellectual contributions of essential political philosophers from Plato to the modern political thought streams (including Steiner’s threefold social order and the “-isms”: liberalism, socialism, communism, fascism, and anarchism).  Through an understanding of political philosophers, students will consider and discuss their impact on modern thought and political systems. Students will read, discuss, and work with a variety of great works, explore the structure and purpose of government, and consider how the processes of politics and government work.

Biology: Embryology- This Main Lesson will take us from the very beginnings of human life and the formation of the reproductive cells, to the challenges facing human beings in old age.The emphasis will be on identifying different processes involved in human growth and development and how these continue throughout life.We will use various artistic means to explore the characteristics of these processes, to enable us to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of them.Some aspects that will be covered will include:

• The Edocrine system
• Structure of the cell
• Male and female reproductive organs
• Conception of the embryo
• Phases of Embryonic development
• Phases of child development
• Phases of adult development

World History: During this block, we will consider how major ideas, world views, and events have shaped our modern world.  A look at how geography and climate have impacted world views, culture, architecture and art will also be considered. As always, students will embark on a variety of artistic and academic experiences as they explore these topics.
 

Faust: Goethe’s nineteenth century masterpiece Faust will serve as a centerpiece of study during this block. This work meets the students of the twelfth grade as they are seeking to find meaning, purpose and place in the world, and considering how they fit as individuals.  Themes of freedom, good and evil, and the modern condition will be considered in discussion, poetically, and in essays. Students will also read related poetry, excerpts from plays, and compare the work of Faust to other great works. During this block, the students will also explore artistically with projects inspired by Goethe’s color theory.
 

Senior Project: During this capstone block, the students will embark upon the creative and organizational task of exploring an individually imagined project. During this endeavor, the students are seeking to answer the question; “How can my interests and strengths help to benefit the world and others in a way that is also personally fulfilling?” Through the process, the students will find guidance and support in the class lessons and Zooms, while also being encouraged in their personal growth as they seek to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their gifts as they prepare to step out into the world.

During this block, the students will be supported in the processes of creative brainstorming, artistic imaginings, researching and writing effective research papers, creating proposals and project plans, and creating an effective and engaging presentation about their projects.
 

Earth Science: Gardening- Themes of this block: Agriculture and Gardening, Geomorphology, Geology, Climatology

One inner aspect of the high school student experiences is the expansion of the power of individual judgement which stirs within a desire for knowledge and the first steps on the search for one’s future. Through this main lesson block, we will strive to begin forming an understanding of the qualitative richness and order of the kingdoms of nature while also studying the dynamic life of Earth. Human, deeply held, need to live in harmony with nature will be explored through practical experiences in the realm of forests as well as agricultural and gardening practices. Lessons will guide students through practical and imaginative explorations of the main themes of this block. In the process, students will refine their observation skills in a controlled manner and employ their imaginative abilities while being challenged to imagine the processes and the ways in which they affect Earth and life on Earth.

History of Math Main Lesson Block: This main lesson will begin at the beginning of time and go through the modern age highlighting the journey humankind took towards the discovery of The Calculus. The students will look at how math developed in each Era and how it developed in different ways in different parts of the world. Themes include the continuous vs. discrete debate, irrational numbers, constructions, developing infinite series and much, much more. The students will look at how mathematical development shaped human thought around the world and they will look at what came after each great mathematical discovery.

“Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.”
-Shakuntala Devi