firstworks arts learning presents...

presents Pilobolus!

Student matinee performance of BranchesFriday, October 26, 11:00 am - noonThe Vets, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence

Teacher Resource Guide

FirstWorks Arts Learning

Table of Contents Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2FirstWorks Launches “EarthFirst”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3About Pilobolus: A Brief History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Pilobolus: The Pioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5What is a “pilobolus”? . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11The Pilobolus Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Pilobolus Discusses Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Student Matinee: “Branches” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Theatre Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16K - 12 Lesson: Force and Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17K - Grade 3 Lesson: Dendrochronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Grade 6 - 8 Lesson: Dendrochronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Kindergarten - Grade 1 Lesson: Teamwork, “The Tale of the Turnip”. . 28Macomber Turnip Soup Recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Turnip Coloring Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Dancer Coloring Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Word Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Teacher Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Student Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

A movement from Branches. Photo by Hibbard Nash Photography


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A key component of FirstWorks is its dedication to providing transformative arts experiences to underserved youth across Rhode Island. The 2018-19 season marks the launch of our EarthFirst initiative linking the arts with environmental awareness. The Pilobolus dance company will be performing excerpts from its Rhode Island premiere of Branches, which is very much tied to the natural sciences and would be a great STEAM resource. The piece is scored entirely using natural sounds with videos interspered through the dance.

Other season offerings are aligned to this initiative and, like this Teacher Resource Guide, include STEAM-based Arts Learning programming for students. Visit our website at FIRST-WORKS.ORG for updates.

Many thanks to The National Grid Foundation for making these EarthFirst programs possible.


FirstWorks Launches EarthFirst!FirstWorks 2018-19 Special Program

EarthFirst As FirstWorks prepares to celebrate our 15th anniversary, we are launching an environmentally-themed Season and Arts Learning Program, EarthFirst, to leverage the power of world-class arts to create awareness about sustainability, climate change, and the stewardship of outdoor spaces.

FirstWorks 2018-19 Arts Learning Supporters:

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In 1970, several young men enrolled at Dartmouth College, took a dance class…to fulfill a physical education requirement. With interests as diverse as history, philosophy, and psychology, the idea of standing alone, in front of a class, and moving, was frightening. So they “clung to one another for both moral and physical support” building dances as a collective while at the same time creating something they thought was “cool”.Following graduation the “company without a name” headed to a member’s dairy farm in Vermont where they continued their movement discoveries; creating choreography that relied on their collective creativity,

humor, and interest in telling stories with their bodies. It was here, that PILOBOLUS was born; and audiences loved this new kind of Modern Dance.This collective creativity continues to this day. Dancers along with members of the Artistic Team and often artists from different genres create dance collaboratively. Their physical inventions often appear to defy gravity or create new life forms right before your eyes.In the more than four decades since, Pilobolus has performed on Broadway, at the Oscars, and the Olympic games, and has appeared on television, in movies, in advertisements, and in schools and businesses. They have created over 120 dance works and toured to 65 countries.As you watch the performance, keep in mind how this company came to be. Watch for those moments of connectiveness; when one or more bodies join together to support another while moving through space; when dancers appear to transform into something completely new. In those moments, you too will become connected…to PILOBOLUS.

About Pilobolus: A Brief History by Ruth M. Feldman


Pilobolus and OK Go - “All is Not Lost” Photo by Nadirah Zakariya

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1978 was a big year for modern dance. After 30 years in New London, Connecticut, in 1978 the seminal American Dance Festival moved to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. In honor of the move — to the city where the festival is still held today — organizers pulled out all the stops. The heavy hitters of modern dance all performed, from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to the companies of Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham. But they saved the best for last. In the final week of the month-long showcase, a young, athletic group of four men and two women took the stage to close the festival and cement their place as the most exciting act in modern dance.

The group was Pilobolus. And, amid a program full of companies with Juilliard credentials and classical pedigrees, they had gotten their start as a handful of jocks in a dance class right here in New Hampshire.

“Pilobolus is an incredibly innovative group,” says John Heginbotham, artistic director of the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble. “They did something no one had ever done before” — and they’re still doing it today.

A little more than 45 years ago, Dartmouth athletes Moses Pendleton, Jonathan Wolken and Steve Johnson enrolled in a dance class taught by visiting professor Alison Becker Chase. They knew nothing about dance, and, in a fateful stroke of luck, they had found themselves with an instructor who elected not to teach them. In Chase’s class, students learned about movement and creativity and were instructed to choreograph their own pieces.What the young athletes lacked in formal dance training, they made up for in physical strength and tongue-in-cheek silliness, and the dance they created put both on display.

The 11-minute performance saw the men moving as a unit and supporting one another’s weight in nearly gravity-defying arrangements. In place of picture-perfect pirouettes, the dancers created shapes made from intertwined bodies. In place of balletic leaps, they threw each other across the stage. The students called their acrobatic number “Pilobolus,” named after a self-propelling fungus that Wolken’s father was studying in his biology lab.Pilobolus — the dance — had stunned the boys’ professor and inspired the three to trade their fencing sabres and cross-country skis for the dance belts and bare stages of a new sport.


Pilobolus: The PioneersNew Hampshire-born troupe Pilobolus celebrates 45 years on

the cutting edge of modern danceby Sarah Cahalan, December 2016, New Hampshire Magazine

Image of Pilobolus by Grant Halverson.

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The men graduated in 1971, and, that summer, Pilobolus the dance company was officially born. After a few early personnel changes — Johnson and another founder, Lee Harris, for instance, left to pursue medical and technological careers — and a move from Hanover to rural Connecticut, the group ultimately settled into a core team of six: Pendleton, Wolken, Chase, 1972 Dartmouth grad Robby Barnett, 1973 grad Michael Tracy and Martha Clarke.

The group’s rise was swift. They spent their first months busily touring around New England, earning buzz by opening for Frank Zappa at Smith College and participating in a student workshop at NYU. By December 29, 1971, Pilobolus had booked their first gig in New York City: a one-night engagement at a Midtown theater called The Space.

A New York Times reporter was in the audience that night, and her review praised the physicality, humor and inventiveness of the nontraditional group, saying, “That they can do so much is with so little is astounding.”

Now Gray Lady-approved, Pilobolus’ popularity exploded. They toured Europe, earned a documentary spot on PBS’ “Dance in America” at just three years old and gave hundreds of performances around the country. By 1978, they had caught the eye of the US State Department.

As part of a cultural exchange program, the government sent Pilobolus on a tour of the Middle East and Asia that fall. Despite concerns about technological divides and clashes over the group’s progressive style and costuming, the tour was a success filled with sold-out shows. Between tourist stops and performances, the group kept a log of their activities, and a week into their tour, they recounted a memorable encounter in the Turkish countryside.

“Outside of Gordion,” they wrote, “we encountered a group of Kurdish gypsies living in a tent village. We exchanged dances, bridging the language barrier with a vocabulary universal to all.”


The original cast of Pilobolus (L-R): Jonathan Wolken, Alison Chase, Robby Barnett, Moses Pendleton, Martha Clarke, and Michael Tracy. (Photo courtesy Pilobolus)

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Despite their success across cultures and borders, though, a question plagued the men and women of Pilobolus: Is their work really dance? The Times reviewer who heralded the group’s 1971 New York show may have been the first person to publicly voice the concerns. “There were times,” she wrote, “when it seemed they were in danger of confusing athletics with art.”

Watching the group perform — in their early years or today — it’s not hard to see why these questions arise. Pilobolus’ choreography is fascinated with the body. Dancers arrange and rearrange themselves in contorted shapes, bouncing off of one another and lifting each other in a collaborative tableau that pushes the limits of what bodies in harmony can achieve.

The group’s dances are stunning to observe, but they certainly don’t resemble your local production of “The Nutcracker.” If ballet is based on the study of centuries-old technique, Pilobolus is based simply on the study of the human form. And, as those close to the group will tell you, it’s no coincidence that such organic work was born of the rugged expanse of New Hampshire’s Upper Valley.

“I think science and the world around us always seemed like a more immediate subject matter to respond to than cultural products or politics,” says Itamar Kubovy, Pilobolus’ executive director. “You get a much realer sense of that when you’re away from culture and cities.” “It’s not in the tradition of dance as much as it is the tradition of observing the environment and nature, and making images out of those observations.”

Jeffrey Ruoff — a Dartmouth film professor whose documentary, “Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty,” recounts the group’s return to campus for their 40th anniversary — puts it another way. “Pilobolus is a ‘liberal arts’ dance company,” he says, “if such a thing exists. They take inspiration from science, music, nature, engineering, psychology, literature — all facets of a liberal arts education.”

That Pilobolus was born at Dartmouth rather than an ivory-tower conservatory isn’t mere trivia; it is central to the group’s ethos. Kubovy agrees that the spirit of innovation fostered by New Hampshire’s rural Ivy was critical to the formation of Pilobolus’ style.

“Ultimately, the sense of safety is a precondition for focused creative work and risk-taking,” he says. “And I think Dartmouth provided that in spades [and gave] permission for those kinds of experiments to take place.”

Four and a half decades after Pilobolus was born in Dartmouth’s Webster Hall — now home to the special collections library in which the company’s archives are held — creating space for innovation is still at the heart of both the college and its performing arts.

One of those innovations is Dartmouth Football’s Mobile Virtual Player. Developed last year by students in the Thayer School of Engineering, the MVP bot allows players to hone their tackling skills on an opponent that can’t sustain a concussion or a season-ending injury like their teammates could. Though it can’t throw a ball, the bot can do just about anything else, bobbing, weaving and moving across the field just like a real human athlete.


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And, at the halftime show of the November 12 game against Brown, the football robot danced.Rather than darting between football players, in this performance, the bot bobbed and weaved between members of student dance group the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble. The result was an interdisciplinary ode to all things modern.Ensemble artistic director John Heginbotham says the collaboration, in its own quirky way, is the latest example of the Pilobolean spirit of innovation in campus arts. Not only does the football-affiliated performance reflect Pilobolus’ founding by athletes, he says, but it also represents of the Dance Ensemble’s commitment to new ideas and, like Pilobolus, a strong athletic style of dance.The ensemble’s connection to their campus precursor also extends to personnel — their choreographer-in-residence, Rebecca Stenn, is an alumna of Pilobolus partner groups Momix and Pilobolus Too — but the directors say students don’t always know of this rich dance heritage upon joining the ensemble. “Sadly, most of the students I encounter do not know this is where Pilobolus came from,” Heginbotham says. “We make sure they learn. Within the first week!”But Dartmouth Dance Ensemble students aren’t the only ones who’ve been surprised to learn of the famed group whose lineage they share. Shawn Ahern was a sophomore at Keene State College when he first encountered Pilobolus.The company had been brought in as the college’s artists-in-residence for a semester, and Ahern developed an immediate affinity for the group. He was selected as one of a small group of students to dance alongside the ensemble for a collaborative number and, in 2007, had his first small taste of performing with Pilobolus.

Today, he serves as its dance captain. “I immediately fell in love” with Pilobolus after that first encounter, Ahern says. “Any time they were near Keene, I would go and see them perform and meet the company members, and they were such fun, loving people.”He auditioned for Pilobolus at an open call in New York while still in school and, from a pool of hundreds of hopefuls, he was chosen for a full-time position with the group. He joined after graduating from Keene State in 2010 and has been with the company ever since.For those who knew Ahern growing up in Dublin, his ascent to the Pilobolus position may be as surprising as it is inevitable.His mother, former ballerina Christina Ahern, owns the Monadnock Academy of Movement Arts in Peterborough, and Shawn says he grew up around the studio — whether as a kid doing homework in the corner or as a dancer in the occasional class. But he never intended to pursue a career in dance.“I got a scholarship for dance and theatre at Keene State,” he says, “And I thought, ‘OK, yeah, I’ll take this scholarship and then, a year later, switch majors.’”Instead, he found himself receiving high praise for his dancing, and he stuck with it.Ahern was engaged in the industrial side of the Monadnock Region growing up as well as its artistic side, and he says that dichotomy was crucial to his success.


New Hampshire native, Shawn Ahern (left), a graduate of

Keene State College, is now Pilobolus’ dance captain.

(Photo by Grant Halverson)

9 FirstWorks Arts Learning

“I felt lucky to be in a family and a small community in Peterborough that was supporting the arts,” he says, “and I think New Hampshire does that very well. But there’s also this blue-collar element to New Hampshire.“I worked in steel construction. When I told people I was going to study dance in college, they didn’t even know what that meant,” Ahern says — but they encouraged him anyway.“There’s this rich support and innocent ignorance about it,” he says, “and that’s kind of how Pilobolus is. Robby Barnett said that Pilobolus takes the blue-collar approach to dance. It’s not some high-brained, intellectual concept about art. We get in a room with people that we like and try to make stuff that is interesting.”Ahern and Pilobolus have returned to their home state for several shows in the past six years, but Shawn says the most special moments came from the group’s performance at Keene’s Redfern Arts Center in 2013.“I was back at my alma mater with all of my professors there and all of these people that had supported me and my training,” Ahern says. “I felt very proud to come back to Keene State as a successful professional and a really positive part of this great company.”This year, Pilobolus celebrates its 45th anniversary. In the years since their founding, they’ve created more than 100 dances, performed at Olympic Games and Oscars ceremonies and even named a New Hampshire native to the top of their roster of performers.So what’s next? Executive producer Kubovy explains that Pilobolus’ upcoming projects are threefold. The first, of course, is new dance material. Though Pilobolus Dance Theater today has many facets, from workshops to public art, their core is still the dance they were built on — the performances you’d call “traditional” if Pilobolus weren’t such a thoroughly nontraditional group.The ensemble is currently rehearsing a new piece created in collaboration with British choreographer Javier de Frutos and preparing for a holiday residency at the Skirball Center at NYU.When they’re not learning their own new material, Kubovy says, the Pilobolus staff is busy sharing their expertise with others. The group has always emphasized education — even instructing dancers in New Hampshire over the years through college partnerships and attendant public movement classes — and they plan to continue that mission as they approach a half-century in business.Of particular interest to a state known for its “silver tsunami,” Pilobolus is currently hard at work on a new series of balance workshops for seniors. “People are living longer and [staying] agile longer,” Kubovy says. “But falling and [lack of] balance ends up doing a terrible damage to health in this country. So we thought, let’s focus on balance. A different attitude of thinking towards the body, for those generations, can lead to an enormously improved quality of life.”The group’s balance and movement classes have reached several hundred older adults so far and are set to expand in the coming months.But perhaps the biggest set of upcoming projects for Pilobolus comes from their ever-growing list of collaborations and side projects. Following the success of their shadow theatre show, Shadowland, the group recently unveiled Shadowland 2, a family-friendly multimedia piece that spent the summer touring in Europe.On the other side of the globe, a partnership debuted this fall between Pilobolus, MIT and Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum. The museum commissioned Pilobolus to create a performance art-style dance piece for their River Nights Festival in October, a production that


featured local participants and Pilobolus dancers creating living lightscapes with LED umbrellas designed by MIT engineers. (Note: Those who attended PVDFest 2018 may have seen this or participated themselves.) The choreography for the piece centered on walking, standing and making shapes — which poses the eternal Pilobolus question.“Is that dance?” Kubovy asks. “Who knows? But we’re certainly getting 250 people carrying umbrellas to do amazing, beautiful things together,” he says. “They’re extensions of what we do and how we do it.”No matter what you think of their work — “it’s art,” “it’s acrobatics,” “it’s crazy” — there is no denying that Pilobolus has made an indelible mark on the landscape of modern dance. And their collaborative style, focused just as much today as in 1971 on creating as a group rather than repeating moves handed down from a choreographer, resonates far beyond the boundaries of any stage.“There’s this group mentality,” Ahern says. “It’s an ideal that we work with all the time, and it’s not easy. It’s really hard. You have to concede a lot and give up a lot.“But we believe that, in the end, all of that is worth it and more minds are better than one. The group will steer you on a better course than any individual will. We believe in that so much that we’ve been doing it for 45 years.”And, with any luck, New Hampshire’s native dance troupe will keep spreading their philosophy for 45 more.

An early performance of “Pilobolus,” the first dance the student trio choreographed at Dartmouth College. This is the seminal work from which the company evolved. (Photo by Tim Matson)


What is a “pilobolus”?

Microscopic view of pilobolus fungus.

Each of us is part of our environment. We are connected to nature whether we know it or not. From its beginnings, Pilobolus has been inspired by the humor and beauty in nature. They even get their name from nature. Pilobolus is a fungus that grows in cow manure. The company created the show Pilobolus is a Fungus to showcase the growth and the decay, the joy and the darkness, the movement and the little invisible community of animals and plants that surround us that we don’t see.

Pilobolus crystallinus is a phototropic (light loving) fungus. Commonly known as “Hat Thrower,” its spores accelerate 0–45 mph in the first millimeter of their flight and adhere to wherever they land. “It’s a feisty little thing—only ¼ inch tall, the length of your fingernail—and can throw its spores nearly 3 feet!”

This fungus also has a light sensitive area causing it to face the sun as it grows. As the fungus matures, water pressure builds inside its stalk until the tip literally explodes, shooting the spores into the daylight and landing up to 8 feet away. One spore can even shoot over a cow!

Like its namesake – a fungus that propels its spores into the world with extraordinary velocity –Pilobolus spreads seeds of expression through movement around the globe. The image of a spore shooting itself through the air was the perfect metaphor for the style dance they were creating, and hence, the perfect name for their new company – Pilobolus!

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The Pilobolus DictionaryHere are some words you might hear at the performance and those that are part of the company’s toolbox when they make a dance:

Collaboration (noun): one of the foundations of the way in which Pilobolus works, by workingtogether…in tightly knit groups/teamwork.

Improvisation (noun): often the manner in which Pilobolus creates a dance: by trying things out and/or inventing new movement; the art of creating something without advance preparation.

Partnering or Weight Sharing (verbs): in Pilobolus, the physical process of connecting one or more dancers together by taking and receiving weight. In doing this, new shapes are created which may or may not move as a single unit.

Pilobolize/Pilobolizing: (verb): to make something the way Pilobolus would.

Pilobolean (adj.): to act or be like a Pilobolus dancer/company member.

Piloboli (noun): more than one Pilobolus dancer/company member.

photo courtesy Pilobolus, by Grant Halverson



Pilobolus Discusses ProcessThe Role of the Choreographer and PilobolusA choreographer designs the steps or patterns of steps and teaches the dancers those steps and ways to use their bodies to communicate an idea. Choreographers are sometimes inspired by a certain piece of music or an image, idea, mood or feeling they wish to express through movement. Some choreographers are storytellers meaning that they create a narrative through the physical action of the dancers. Other choreographers work in abstract forms in which they let the audience determine the meaning of the dance based on their individual experiences of it.

Pilobolus uses a collaborative, creative and education process when designing each new work; inviting a diverse group of artists, choreographers and dancers to their new works development sessions to create as a team. This collaborative process inspires imaginative and fresh performance pieces. Moses Pendleton, one of Pilobolus’ collaborators shares “You have got to use your imagination, and in our shows, we try to create what I call ‘optical confusion,’ designed to excite the brain cells and stimulate creativity.”

Pilobolus and MusicIn Katherine Teck’s “Ear Training for the Body,” she addresses the connection between music and dance; it can help establish where you are, how to move, what the story or theme is, even bring unity to the piece.

The work of Pilobolus is no different. More often than not, the company seldom completes a dance without the added element of music, or sound. Though there are occasions where the absence of sound or music helps tell a “different story.”

The process of adding that aural element can happen in several ways: a work can be choreographed in the studio without music or sound; or, existing music (or pieces from a variety of compositions), that has the “feel” the choreographers need to express their idea, is used. Another way is when a composer observes and participates in the creation of the work as it develops. When this occurs, an original score evolves from the “back and forth” or “give and take” relationship between choreographers, musician(s), and dancers. This collaboration is yet one more example of how important the collaborative process is to Pilobolus.

As you watch, and listen to Branches, consider how the music or sound, or perhaps its absence, connects to each piece. How important is the music or sound to the dancers’ movement? Is it another part of the story or helping illuminate where the story takes place? It’s up to you to decide, because as the audience member, what you see and how it makes you feel, is an important part of experiencing dance, and the amazing Pilobolus.


Student Matinee: Branches

A section from the piece Branches where dancers be-come condors, the largest flying land birds in the West-

ern Hemisphere. (Photo by Hibbard Nash.)

BRANCHES (2017) Performance Section Titles

Down by the Water: People are animals. Animals have a community too. They all meet at the watering hole. This is the center of their community, interaction, and social life.

Up in a Tree: Have you ever noticed the movement of trees and plants outside your window? The world outside is full of movement and motion, wind and light. The animals in the landscape are in constant interaction with these elements.

Mr. Right: Humans have dances they do to attract love. Animals do too! We dance the tango, and the bird of paradise performs an equally intricate mating dance.

What’s Left: The sun goes down, flowers wilt, light falls and the cycle of life continues.There will be a 10 minute Q&A with the dancers following the performance.

CREATED: 2017

COMMISSIONED BY: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

COLLABORATORS: Renee Jaworski and Matt Kentin collaboration with Itamar Kubovy, Mark Fucikand Antoine Banks-Sullivan, Nathaniel Buchsbaum, Krystal Butler, Isabella Diaz, Heather Jeane Favretto, and Jacob Michael Warren.


Theatre EtiquetteBe prepared and arrive early. Ideally you should arrive at the theater 30 to 45 minutes before the show. Allow for travel time and parking, and plan to be in your seats at least 15 minutes before the performance begins.

Be aware and remain quiet. The theater is a “live” space—you can hear the performers easily, but they can also hear you, and you can hear other audience members, too! Even the smallest sounds, like rustling papers and whispering, can be heard throughout the theater, so it’s best to stay quiet so that everyone can enjoy the performance without distractions. The international sign for “Quiet Please” is to silently raise your index finger to your lips.

Show appreciation by applauding. Applause is the best way to show your enthusiasm and appreciation. Performers return their appreciation for your attention by bowing to the audience at the end of the show. It is always appropriate to applaud at the end of a performance, and it is customary to continue clapping until the curtain comes down or the house lights come up.

Participate by responding to the action onstage. Sometimes during a performance, you may respond by laughing, crying or sighing. By all means, feel free to do so!

Appreciation can be shown in many different ways, depending upon the art form. For instance, an audience attending a string quartet performance will sit very quietly, while the audience at a gospel concert may be inspired to participate by clapping and shouting.

Concentrate to help the performers. These artists use concentration to focus their energy while on stage. If the audience is focused while watching the performance, they feel supported and are able to do their best work. They can feel that you are with them!

PLEASE NOTE: Recording devices of any kind, including cell phone cameras and video, cannot be used during performances.

***Please remember to turn off your cell phone.***


K - 12 Lesson: Force & AccelerationUsing Ghost Rockets to Determine Projectile Distance. As we have discussed, some pilobolus fungus can shoot their spores great distances and heights of several feet! This interactive lesson introduces students to force and acceleration. It can be messy, but fun! See a video here: https://www.alkaseltzer.com/science-experiments/rockets/You may want to conduct this lesson outside, or in the gym or cafeteria. Some mopping up will be needed if conducted inside!Materials List:* small empty plastic film canisters; enough for everyone in your class, or for groups of at least five students (one to draw the face, a second to add the water, a third to put in the tablet, a fourth to put on the cover, and a fifth to record the findings; students can alternate responsibilities throughout the lesson and all can help measure the distances.)* black permanent ink Sharpie markers * water* Alka seltzer (or a generic brand of antacid) tablets cut in half * several tape measures of at least 25 feet * paper and pencil to record findingsStep 1- Since this performance takes place during the calendar month that inlcudes Halloween, we thought turning your canisters into ghosts might be fun! So, if you’d like to celebrate Halloween while teaching about force and acceleration, have your students draw a ghostly face on the outside of their canister with a permanent Sharpie marker. Make sure that the canister is upside down when they draw the face. Step 2 - Fill the canisters half full with water.Step 3 - Drop in the half Alka Seltzer tablet.Step 4 - Quickly put the lid on and turn the canister upside down on a smooth surface, such as a table that you do not mind getting wet. Have the students stand away from the table for safety. The sodium bicarbonate will start to bubble and force the canister to pop up, leaving the cap, water, and some bubbles on the table. Measure the distance each canister reached. Record the findings.Step 5 - Experiment with different levels of water and see how high and far the canisters project. Discussion Questions: 1. What happened when the water and tablet mixed? 2. Compare and contrast what happened when there were different amounts of water.3. Also try it with 1/4 of a tablet. What about a whole tablet?4. What would happen if you tried using a differently shaped container?5. What if you used hot water? Or, very cold water?Remember that when you are conducting experiments you only want to change one thing at a time. Keep everything else the same in order to see how the thing you changed (known as the variable) affects the outcome. (In this case your ghost flying through the air.)


What’s going on?As the antacid tablet fizzes, carbon dioxide is released inside the canister. Pressure from the gas builds and eventually pops the lid off. The thrust, or push, of your ghost is related to how much pressure built up inside the canister before the top popped off.

What is happening inside that film canister?When you mix these effervescing tablets with water, a chemical reaction takes place between the citric acid and sodium bicarbonate contained in the tablet and the water. This chemical reaction creates many, many bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. Citric acid is a weak acid and is in the juice of most citrus fruits like lemons or limes. Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda. You already know what happens when you combine this chemical reaction with a film canister, when it pops, it goes up!

Why does your ghost fly up?It goes up because gas is building and building in the closed film canister and since the lid is the weakest point of the canister, the lid pops off and all that gas comes rushing out of the end of the canister. This action can be explained using Newton’s Third Law of Motion – “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. The gas rushing out of one end of the canister (the action) causes your ghost to move in the opposite direction (the reaction). This is exactly how all rockets work whether you use an effervescing tablet as your fuel or a chemical rocket propellant like NASA does.

In the case of the light sensitive pilobolus fungus spores, sunlight causes the pressure to build up inside the structure, causing it to explode and propel the black sticky dark spot quite far. Sometimes distances exceed six feet. They are found stuck to leaves, trees, etc.

Applying nature to space technology…Rockets built by NASA use a pressurized fuel and an oxidizer. The oxidizer is something that allows the fuel to burn without using outside air. The fuel, in a gaseous state, is pressurized because this forces it out the end of the rocket just like your Film Canister Ghost! However, there are a few more parts to an actual rocket.The fuel used in the rockets like the ones that help the space shuttles enter space use liquid hydrogen as the fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. You may be saying to yourself, “I thought you just said that the fuel is in a gaseous state, not a liquid state?”. Correct! The fuel and oxidizer are only in these liquid states when they are in the holding tanks and they can only stay in this liquid state at extremely low temperatures. The fuel and oxidizer are allowed to combine within the combustion chamber and as they burn they turn into a gas (gases take up about 1,000 times more space than a liquid). This causes the intense pressure. It is exactly like your Film Canister Ghost, the carbon dioxide builds up and puts intense pressure on the canister so the lid pops off.


K - Grade 3 Lesson: Dendrochronology

What Are Tree Rings?Tree rings are natural markings inside the trunk of a tree. If a tree has fallen or been cut down, you may be able to see rings. The circles look similar to the rings that appear when you throw a rock in a pond.These rings can tell us a lot about the tree they’re found in and the tree’s environment. The study of these rings is called dendrochronology. Scientists use dendrochronology to learn about the age of a tree, the weather during its life, and any natural disasters or pests the tree endured. It’s pretty cool that a tree can tell us so much information without being able to talk!

How Do Trees Get Rings?Not all trees have tree rings--only those that experience a growing season. A growing season is the limited time span every year that a tree grows taller and wider, usually spring and summer. Trees in tropical locations that don’t have cold winters may not have tree rings because they grow all year long.Trees that do experience a growing season add a new layer of wood right under the bark every year. This layer will start out light in color and become darker as the growing season comes to an end. So, the darkest part of the ring shows the end of the growing season. This means you can count each dark ring as one year!

In this lesson, we’ll talk about tree rings and how trees grow these unique features. You’ll also learn about different types of rings and what they say about the tree.

A bundle of trees with visible tree rings. (Photo courtesy study.com.)


Types of Tree RingsHow do dendrochronologists learn more than just age from tree rings? There are various types of rings, and each kind tells a different story.

Wide RingsWhen you see a wide and even tree ring, the tree experienced a healthy growing season. This usually means it was a year with plenty of rain and sunshine.

A count of these rings shows you that this tree is about ten years old. (Photo courtesy study.com.)

Thin RingsA thin ring occurs when the tree had slow growth for the growing season. A year of drought (not enough rain) and lack of sunlight can cause a tree to grow very little. An infestation of a leaf-eating insect will also slow the growth of a tree.

Nearly forty years of tree rings. (Photo courtesy study.com.)

Dendrochronology is used to understand historic fluctuations in weather and climate change. It is also a tool used to help determine the age of historic buildings. Core samples are removed from wood in structures and analyzed to trace back the age of the wood which will then aid in determining the time period that the structure was built.Cut various samples from trees (those that have already fallen are best) and have students count the rings to determine the age, noting thin and thick rings. What can they conclude?


Grade 6 - 8 Lesson: Dendrochronology

Learning Goals1. Students will understand that data for past climate changes can be gathered from sources beyond long-term weather observations.2. Students will recognize the direct impact of climate on annual tree growth patterns.

Trees are some of nature’s most accurate timekeepers. Their growth layers, appearing as rings in the cross section of the tree trunk, record evidence of floods, droughts, insect attacks, lightning strikes, and even earthquakes.Tree growth depends on local conditions, which include the availability of water. Because the water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, is uneven, that is, the amount of water in the environment varies from year to year, scientists use tree-ring patterns to reconstruct regional patterns of drought and climatic change. This field of study, known as dendrochronology, was begun in the early 1900’s by an American astronomer named Andrew Ellicott Douglass.While working at an observatory in his native Arizona, Douglass began to collect pine trunk cross sections to study their annual growth rings. He thought there might be a connection between sunspot activity and drought. Such a connection could be established, he believed, through natural records of vegetation growth. Douglass was not the first to notice that some growth rings in trees are thicker than others. In the climate where Douglass was working, the varying widths clearly resulted from varying amounts of rainfall. In drier growing seasons narrow rings were formed, and in growing seasons in which water was more plentiful, wide rings occurred.

Materials for Each Group of Four Students• A set of paper strips pre-marked with ring patterns.(Attached at end of teacher materials). (A key has been provided on the following page). Make a copy for each group. Then cut the paper strips apart and (if you want to make them sturdier) glue them onto light cardboard or sturdy paper (file folders would work well too).• Transparent tape• A worksheet.


Time & Cycles – Dendrochronology Teachers’s Guide and Answers KeyModified with permission from Global Change: Time and Cycles, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA. In this activity, students will use pre-marked paper strips to simulate tree-ring core samples to help them understand that data for past climate changes can be gathered from sources beyond long-term weather observations. Students will be able to recognize the direct impact of climate on annual tree growth patterns.BackgroundTrees contain some of nature’s most accurate evidence of the past. Their growth layers, appearing as rings in the cross section of the tree trunk, record evidence of floods, droughts, insect attacks, lightning strikes, and even earthquakes. Each year, a tree adds to its girth, the new growth being called a tree ring. Tree growth depends upon local conditions such as water availability. Because the amount of water available to the tree varies from year to year, scientists can use tree-ring patterns to reconstruct regional patterns of drought and climatic change. An American astronomer named Andrew Ellicott Douglass began this field of study, known as dendrochronology, in the early 1900s.

A tree ring consists of two layers:* A light colored layer grows in the spring* A dark colored layer in late summer

During wet, cool years, most trees grow more than during hot, dry years and the rings are wider.Drought or a severe winter can cause narrower rings. If the rings are a consistent width throughout the tree, the climate was the same year after year. By counting the rings of a tree, we can pretty accurately determine the age and health of the tree and the growing season of each year.Modern dendrochronologists seldom cut down a tree to analyze its rings. Instead, core samples are extracted using a borer that’s screwed into the tree and pulled out, bringing with it a straw-size sample of wood about 4 millimeters in diameter. The hole in the tree is then sealed to prevent disease.Computer analysis and other methods have allowed scientists to better understand certain large-scale climatic changes that have occurred in past centuries. These methods also make highly localized analyses possible. For example, archaeologists use tree rings to date timber from log cabins and Native American pueblos by matching the rings from the cut timbers of homes to rings in very old trees nearby. Matching these patterns can show the year a tree was cut, thus revealing the age of a dwelling.To investigate the extent, speed, and effects of historical climate changes locally and globally, scientists rely on data collected from tree rings, ice cores, pollen samples, and the fossil record. Computers are used to detect possible patterns and cycles from these sources. In dendrochronology, large databases allow scientists to compare the ring records of many trees, construct maps of former regional climates, and reveal when, where, and how quickly the climates changed. These historical records are extremely valuable as we struggle to understand the extent and nature of any possible future climate change.


In this activity, students will use pre-marked paper strips to simulate tree-ring core samples. They’ll work in groups to reconstruct a 50-year climatic history.

Student Core Samples

Key

The students will align all four samples so that the patterns match. Then they’ll determine the year when each tree was cut and when it began to grow. They’ll count all of the rings from the oldest samples as they are aligned with the younger samples to determine the total amount of time represented by the rings. They should count aligned rings that appear on several samples only once. You many want to tell the students that the pith (central layer) and bark are not counted in determining the age of a sample. The youngest ring is closest to the bark and the oldest ring is closest to the pith.


Activity 1. Group students in teams of four and distribute the paper strips and student guides.2. Either write the following information on the blackboard or copy it and hand it out. Imagine you have core samples from 4 trees: Sample 1: From a living tree from the Cedarville Forest, July 1993 Sample 2: From a tree from the Cedarville Christmas Tree Farm Sample 3: From a log found near the main trail in Cedarville Forest Sample 4: From a barn beam removed from Cedarville Hollow3. Ask the students to determine the age of each tree (how many years it had been growing) by counting the rings. Then have them record their answers on the worksheet. The answers are provided below. Sample Age of Tree Year Cut or Cored Year Growth Began 1 31 years 1993 1962 2 28 years 1990 1962 3 39 years 1988 1949 4 28 years 1970 1942

Analysis: Use complete sentences for full credit:Q: How do trees record climatic information in their growth rings? A: As they grow, they produce different width rings depending on the climate that year.Q: What type of climate do wide rings indicate? A: Cool, wet – good for growingQ: What type of climate do narrow rings indicate? A: Drought, warm – not as good for growingQ: What was the total length of time that we have climate data for in Cedarville? A: 51 years

Assessment Ideas: Ask students the following:Q: Why might a climatologist be interested in the tree-ring data from Cedarville?Q: Is it likely to be more important to sample trees in the area that are quite old or ones that are fairly young? Why?


Time & Cycles - Dendrochronology Student Activity SheetTrees contain some of nature's most accurate evidence of the past. Their growth layers, appearing as rings in the cross section of the tree trunk, record evidence of floods, droughts, insect attacks, lightning strikes, and even earthquakes. Each year, a tree grows. The new growth is called a tree ring. How much the tree grows depends on such things as how much water was available. Because the amount of water available to the tree varies from year to year, scientists can use tree-ring patterns to reconstruct regional patterns of drought and climatic change. This field of study, known as dendrochronology, was begun in the early 1900s by an American astronomer named Andrew Ellicott Douglass.

By counting the rings of a tree, we can pretty accurately determine the age and health of the tree and the growing season of each year. Modern dendrochronologists seldom cut down a tree to analyze its rings. Instead, core samples are extracted using a borer that's screwed into the tree and pulled out, bringing with it a straw-size sample of wood about 4 millimeters in diameter. The hole in the tree is then sealed to prevent disease.

In this activity, your teacher will give you samples that simulate tree-ring cores. Your group will be given four simulated tree-ring cores. The samples came from the following sources:

Sample 1: From a living tree from the Cedarville Forest, July 1993 Sample 2: From a tree from the Cedarville Christmas Tree Farm Sample 3: From a log found near the main trail in Cedarville Forest Sample 4: From a barn beam removed from Cedarville Hollow

Procedure Part 1: How old is tree number 1?

1. Since you know when this tree was cored (1993), starting with the current age, you can determine the age of the tree by counting the rings from the bark to the pith. Count the rings carefully, remembering that each ring represents one year of growth.2. Remember, the pith (central layer) and bark are not counted in determining the age of a sample.3. And, the youngest ring is closest to the bark and the oldest ring is closest to the pith.4. Record the tree age in the data table.

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Time & Cycles - Dendrochronology Student Activity Sheet - page 2

Part 2: When did tree number 1 start growing?


1. Sample 1 was cored in 1993, meaning that the outer ring grew that year. How can you tell what year Sample 1 started growing? Figure that out and record the year in the data table for Sample 1.(Hint: use subtraction)

Part 3: Figuring out the ages of the other trees (A difficult task)

1. Samples 2, 3, and 4 were cut down before their tree ring core was taken - but we don't know exactly when. How can we figure out both the year they were cut and the year they started growing from the tree ring cores?2. To accomplish this task, look at all four cores. First, look for a pattern in the rings - some are wide and some are narrow.

(Remember: Wide rings indicate that the tree was growing fast that year, probably because the weather was good. Narrow rings indicate slow growth, probably linked to regional drought or cold temperatures.)

All of these trees were growing in the same general area, so if they were alive at the same time, they should show the same ring patterns. Once you have found some pattern matches, line up the cores so that the patterns overlap.

Once the cores are lined up, here’s how you can determine their ages: You know that 1992 is the last ring on Sample 1. Count backward until you get to the ring that matches on another core. That ring was produced in the same year on both cores. Nowyoucancountbackwardonthiscoreuntilyoureachthefirstmatchingringonthe next core. Those rings were produced in the same year as well. Repeat for the last core. Now simply count backward to the end of the cores and you have the year the trees began to grow. Record all data in the data table below:

Data Table 1

Sample Age of Tree Year Cut or Cored Year Growth Began1 1993234

Analysis: Use complete sentences for full credit:5. How do trees record climatic information in their growth rings?6. What type of climate do wide rings indicate?7. What type of climate do narrow rings indicate?8. What was the total length of time that we have climate data for in Cedarville?


K - Grade 1 Lesson: TeamworkThe Tale of the Turnip by Anita Hewett is based on an old Russian folktale. It focuses on teamwork and how even the smallest member of the group can contribute greatly. The story mirrors the philosophy of Pilobolus Dance Company where the collaborative efforts of the whole group are truly valued and relied upon.

The notion of teamwork can be applied to any age or grade level, but in this case, it is particularly apt for the Kindergarten class due to the size and age of the wee ones. The story helps to boost students’ self esteem while connecting to a Kindergarten learning strand focusing on students learning their vegetables. Variations of this story can be found focusing on other vegetables, such as pumpkins, squash, etc.

The Tale of the Turnip by Anita HewettBased on an old Russian folktale

Once upon a time there was a house on a hill.It had a red roof, and a green door, and four little windows with yellow curtains.In front of the house there was a small, neat garden,withaflowerbed,atree,andavegetable patch.

In the house lived the little old man the grandfather, the little old woman the grandmother, the little girl the grandchild, the little black cat, and the little brown mouse. The

little brown mouse had a secret place to live in. No one knew where it was, not even the little black cat.

One spring day when the sun was shining, the little old man the grandfather said: “It is time to plant my turnip seeds. I shall sow them now, in the vegetable patch. And when they have grown to big white turnips, we shall all have turnip soup for supper.”

He opened a drawer and found the seeds.

He went to the cupboard for his gardening boots.

He went to the garden shed for his trowel.

And then he went to the vegetable patch. The earth was dry and hard and lumpy.

The little old man the grandfather dug it up. He beat out the lumps and smoothed the earth until he had made a good safe, seed bed. And then he planted the turnip seeds, in a long straight row.

“There!” he said. “That’s done.” And he went indoors for his supper.

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The rain came and watered the turnip seeds. The sun shone and kept them warm.

Beneath the earth, where no one could see them, the little white roots began to grow. They grew longer and longer, down in the earth. Most of them grew like ordinary turnips.

But right in the middle of the long, straight row, one little seed grew extra long roots, longer and longer and LONGER.

Then little white shoots began to grow, up and up, and up and up, until they came above the earth. And each little shoot opened two green leaves to the sunshine. Most of them grew like ordinary turnips. But right in the middle of the long, straight row, one little shoot grew extra big leaves, bigger and bigger and BIGGER.

“Look!” said the little old man the grandfather. “Come and look at the turnip seedlings.”

The little old woman the grandmother, the little girl the grandchild, and the little black cat hurried down the garden path. The little brown mouse came from his secret place, and he ran down the path as well.

“Look!” they said. “The turnips are growing. Especially that one.”

The little green seedlings were still quite small. But the rain and the sunshine made them grow. The tiny green leaves grew up and up, taller and taller. Most of them grew like ordinary turnips. But right in the middle of the long, straight row, one of the seedlings grew extra tall leaves, taller, and taller, and TALLER.

Undertheearth,wherenoonecouldseethem,roundwhiteturnipsbegantogrow.Atfirstthey were very small indeed, but day by day, and week by week, they grew and grew. Most of them grew like ordinary turnips. But right in the middle of the long, straight row, one of them grew and grew and GREW. It grew bigger and bigger and BIGGER.

Above the earth, the leaves grew taller. Beneath the earth, the turnips grew bigger. Especially that one. It grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER. “It’s ENORMOUS!” said the little old man the grandfather.

He stood and looked at the long straight row, and he smiled. Then he said: “I shall pull a turnip out of the ground, and we’ll all have turnip soup for supper. I shall pull up that one.”

Hewenttothemiddleofthelongstraightrow,andtookafirmholdoftheturnipplant,theextra big, ENORMOUS one. Then he began to pull and pull.

He pulled, and he pulled, and he pulled. But he could not pull up the turnip.

The little old man the grandfather called: “Little old woman the grandmother, please come and help me to pull up the turnip.” “Certainly,” said the little old woman the grandmother.

Shetookafirmholdofthelittleoldmanthegrandfather’swaistcoat.Andtheypulled,andthey pulled, and they pulled. But they could not pull up the turnip.



The little old woman the grandmother called: “Little girl the grandchild, please come and help us to pull up the turnip.” “Certainly,” said the little girl the grandchild.

Shetookafirmholdofthelittleoldwomanthegrandmother’sskirt.Andtheypulled,andthey pulled, and they pulled. But they could not pull up the turnip.

The little girl the grandchild called: “Little black cat, please come and help us to pull up the turnip.” “Certainly,” said the little black cat.

Shetookafirmholdofthelittlegirlthegrandchild’sapronstrings.Andtheypulled,andtheypulled, and they pulled. But they could not pull up the turnip. What could they do?

The little black cat called: “Little brown mouse, little brown mouse, please come and help us to pull up the turnip.” The little brown mouse came from his secret place. “Certainly,” he said.

Hetookafirmholdoftheblackcat’stail,andtheypulled,andtheypulled,andtheypulled.

And – UP came the turnip.

“There! That’s done,” they said, and they carried the turnip indoors. It was ENORMOUS.

It was so enormous that there was enough for everybody.

There was enough for the little old man the grandfather, and the little old woman the grandmother, and the little girl the grandchild, and the little black cat.

And the little brown mouse.

The End.

A Bulgarian postage stamp, circa 1964, depicts the climactic scene from The Tale of the Turnip.


Questions:

1. What vegetable were they trying to pull up? A turnip.2. What does that vegetable need to grow? Soil, sun, and water.3. How many characters in the story were needed to help pull up the vegetable? Five.4. Why? It was enormous.5. Whose help made the vegetable pull up from the ground? The little brown mouse.6. What made this possible? Teamwork.7. When asked to help, what did everyone say? “Certainly.” 8. What does that tell you? Always be willing to help and you and your group will be successful.

Activity: Re-enact the teamwork in the story.

Organize students into groups of five.Assign each a character: the little old man the grandfatherthe little old woman the grandmotherthe little girl the grandchildthe little black catthe little brown mouse

Props (not essential as students can use their imagination): A packet of seeds. Gardening boots. A trowel. A turnip with leaves (this prop is very helpful in re-enacting).

Have each group re-enact the story, paying careful attention to how each character asks for help and being sure that each student includes a polite “Certainly” in their response.

At left, some turnips with their stalks still on. Note the purplish color on their tops and sides and the white flesh on their bottoms. The purplish sections received sunlight and the white sections did not as they were still underneath the soil.


Macomber Turnip Soup Recipe“The Macomber Turnip began when two brothers, Adin and Elihu, sixth-generation farmers from the Westport portion of old Dartmouth, (Massachusetts) began experimenting with seeds. They returned from a fair in Philadelphia in 1876 (Centennial Exposition) with seeds for experimentation, planting radishes next to rutabagas (17th century crossbreed of a cabbage and a turnip) to allow cross pollination. The Westport Macomber Turnip was born. Theirnewturnipinheritedthewhitefleshoftheradishparentandturnipgrandparent,butanunusual sweetness and horseradish aroma, raw and cooked.” - Cukie Macomber, Westport, MA. It is also believed that the salt air blowing up from Buzzards Bay adds a distinctive flavor found only in Macomber turnips grown in the Westport and Dartmouth area.

Macomber Turnip SoupMakes about 4 quartsAdapted from Chef Tony Maws of Craigie on Main by Alexander Joy

1 stick salted butter, plus a bit more for the pan1 large leek, trimmed and thoroughly cleaned, diced3 lb Macomber turnips, peeled and 1-inch diced4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock4-5 cups water (you can also use extra stock here)1 cup crème fraiche1 ½ tsp Kosher salt, plus more for seasoning leeks½ tsp fresh-ground black pepper

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, melt enough butter to coat the bottom of the pot. You shouldn’t need more than 1 TB. Add leeks, season with a pinch or two of salt, and sauté until soft and translucent.

Add diced turnips and stock to the pot. Add enough water (or more stock) to cover the turnips by two inches of liquid. Season with 1 ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Once soup is boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes or until turnips are thoroughly cooked and easily mashed against the side of the pot.

Blend soup in two batches in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. To each batch, add half of the turnips, half of the cooking liquid, ½ stick of butter and ½ cup crème fraiche. Put the blender lid on, being sure that it’s secure, and remove the lid plug. Place a clean kitchen towel over the opening and hold the lid down tightly. Start the blender on low speed, slowly increasing to high. Blend until very smooth and transfer to another pot or serving bowls. Repeat process with second batch. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve hot, topped with fresh chives and an extra grind of black pepper.

Note: I prefer to use organic chicken bone broth from Pacific for this recipe. It has 9 grams of protein per cup, which makes this a pretty high-protein soup considering it’s otherwise mostly veggie-based. Another plus, this particular brand of broth doesn’t contain any added sugar or salt—a huge plus since most store-bought options typically do.


Coloring Page: Color in the turnip being careful to distinguish between parts that received more sunlight.


Coloring Page: Color in the dancer based on the costumes you saw today at the Pilobolus student matinee!

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Word Search: Can you find all the words from the wordbank?

Pilobolus Dance Company Word Search

T F T N C C T S F D O O Y Z B I N F S R V E U U J S R A D E M T E E E H B M N M U S I C N R A A M C N A L G R L U R N Z E T G N N E S X U V O S V N V E C A I T O D O S N B W X B N O R N S C U R X R B O C V A F B I I A C H I I G Y L B M Q F Y Y F E D T A D V O I A V H Z L U P Z X R U N R N P S E E M N L V A Q A Z I L Y E P G R M M O V E M E N T N D E R A P F P M S Q K Z P B E X K B W X M X P E N G E W P H W R P A L Z E R U T A N V X I A B Q F E G

AIR BRANCHES CREATE DANCE EARTH ENVIRONMENT FUN FUNGUS MAGIC MOVEMENT MUSIC NATURE PILOBOLUS SENSORY STEAM


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FirstWorks Arts Learning Student Matinee Pilobolus Dance Company

October 26, 2018

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Best Email:___________________________ Best Phone #:___________________

1. Were you able to introduce your students to some background information about Pilobolus Dance Company prior to this experience?

What resources did you find most helpful?

Did you use the curriculum FirstWorks provided? 2. How did you incorporate this experience into your classroom teaching? Did it fit into a unit of study you were already working on?

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4. I would estimate the impact on my students’ artistic and/or academic growth from this educational experience to be: Strong Good Basic Not very strong

5. Please describe your own and your students’ overall experience with this educational experience. Thank you!

Teacher SurveyFirstWorks Arts Learning

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FirstWorks Arts Learning Student Matinee Pilobolus Dance Company

October 26, 2018

1) Have you ever heard of FirstWorks? Yes ___ No ___ If so, how? :

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6) On the back, please add any other comments you would like to share about this experience. Thank you!

Student SurveyFirstWorks Arts Learning

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