On Tuesday 27th January Dr. Jennifer Dupont from Exxon Mobil Research visited ASD to share the current research in Qatar of the vulnerable dugong.  The Grade 4 students have currently been studying ecosystems, in particular the harmful or beneficial affects humans can have on species.

In case you missed the Curriculum Night for parents this week, you can watch Mr. Mitchell's presentation about our science curriculum here. 

Mr. Mitchell is very excited for the new school year, especially because there's a new place to learn science at ASD! This year the Outdoor Classroom will be opening for elementary students to do all sorts of cool science projects outside. We'll be growing a garden, putting up bird feeders, checking weather instruments, observing insects, and adding new living things to the pond. See you soon!

Congratulations to Team 29 from 5E for coming in first place out of all 5th grade teams in the NESA Virtual Science Fair. Their science fair experiment investigating how oil affects the growth of aquatic plants is an outstanding example of a well-planned and carefully-conducted experiment. Next fall they will receive their champion certificates signed by the U.S. State Department, and ASD will be presented with the trophy. Congrats again to all our stellar 5th grade scientists!

As part of their ecosystem unit, the 4th grade visited the Doha Zoo. While at the zoo they participated in a series of activities about ecosystems that were planned by ASD High School students as part of their IB Diploma service project. The students also critiqued the Doha Zoo as though they were zoo designers, and at the end of their science unit they will be designing new ecosystems to improve the zoo.