Curious In The Community

QUESTION

INQUIRE

DISCUSS

CONNECT

CREATE

REFLECT

Community is at the heart of Haddonfield Friends School, and meaningful engagement with the world around us is an important part of our educational experience. Through our Curious in the Community program, students engage with the people, places, systems, and organizations that shape our local and global communities.

Designed to be intentionally cross-curricular, the program helps students see how learning extends beyond traditional subject areas and connects to real-world experiences. Each unit is query driven, hands-on, and exploratory. Students conduct research, engage with experts, and create models and projects that bring their learning to life.

As they investigate authentic challenges and opportunities within their communities, students develop a deeper understanding of how the world works and discover connections they may not have noticed before. Over time, the program evolves to provide greater independence and choice, allowing older students to pursue topics that align with their interests and passions while developing the skills and confidence to engage thoughtfully with the wider world.

Students in Kindergarten through 4th grade participate in grade-level units, while Middle School students have the opportunity to choose one of two units each year, creating a multi-age learning community with peers from grades 5–8.

From Farm to Table

Questions:

  • Where does our food come from?
  • What are the systems in place to bring our food to our tables?

Key Experiences:

  • Pizza making @ Passariellos
  • Food Chain Dramatic Play- students “work” at the farm, packing plant and grocery store
  • Students prepare their own lunch
  • Dissect plants and eat plant parts
  • Investigate what people around the world (and our families) eat in a week
  • Seed exploration and observation

Community Connections:

  • Passariellos trip
  • Whole Foods trip
  • Bullock Farms trip
  • Sharing of family recipes
  • Kindergarten community lunch

Wild New Jersey

Questions:

  • How do plants and animals in an ecosystem depend on one another?
  • What happens when the ecosystem is disrupted?

Key Experiences:

  • Observe worms and learn about their importance to the environment
  • Model a real life ecosystem by using a “web”, then disrupting the “ecosystem” to observe what happens
  • Investigate how seeds disperse and create our own models for seed dispersal
  • Learn about animal architects and create our own birds’ nests using our “beaks”
  • Hear from an environmental consultant and learn about how she conducts animal surveys throughout NJ
  • Enjoy a visit from Cedar Run Wildlife center to learn about raptors

Community Connections:

  • Longwood Gardens trip
  • Philadelphia Zoo trip
  • Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge raptor visit
  • Guest speaker- environmental consultant

Built by Design

Questions:

  • How can we classify and describe materials?
  • How do we select the right materials for a job?
  • In what ways are materials impacted by weather and climate?

Key Experiences:

  • Tour Haddonfield and the Haddonfield Friends Meeting House basement to discover what materials make up our community
  • Build structures that are able to withstand a “hurricane” using materials found on the HFS grounds
  • Learn to make mud bricks
  • Learn about the innovation wire rope and create our own models using various materials
  • Build strong bridges (using our own wire rope) and test what weight they are able to hold
  • Visit South Jersey Running Co to investigate how running shoes are designed, and why. Then create our own “shoes” back in the classroom with materials that mimic those we observed and test their effectiveness under various conditions

Community Connections:

  • South Jersey Running Co trip
  • Mummers Museum trip
  • Philadelphia Seaport Museum trip
  • Philaldelphia Magic Gardens trip
  • Roebling Museum trip
  • Haddonfield walking trip
  • Parent guest speakers from various industries (engineering, auto design)

The Many Ways We Tell Stories

Questions:

  • How and why do people share stories?
  • How are culture and history represented in stories?
  • How has storytelling changed over time?

Key Experiences:

  • Hear from published authors about their writing process
  • Dive deeply into author’s purpose through an analysis of folktales and creation myths
  • Write our own stories, focusing on audience and purpose
  • Take a Mural Arts walking tour and discuss the purpose and vision of the work we’ll see, and how color and symbolism can help tell a story
  • Work in groups to create a collaborative art project to tell a story about HFS
  • Attend a live performance at the local theatre, then compare and contrast the story to the play, and share our favorite way of viewing the story

Community Connections:

  • Arden Theatre
  • Ritz Theatre
  • Philadelphia Mural Arts tour
  • Haddonfield walking trip
  • Local author visits

A World of Choices

Questions:

  • Why can’t we have everything we want, and how do we decide what to choose?
  • What makes something valuable, and why do prices change?
  • How do people decide what to make, buy, or sell?
  • How do our economic choices affect others and the world around us?

Key Experiences:

  • Partake in an economic scavenger hunt in Haddonfield
  • Create business plans for a new Haddonfield business and present them to the “Shark Tank” to secure funding
  • Work through some role playing games on ideas like bartering vs money, goods and services, opportunity costs, and saving vs spending
  • Discuss unintended consequences that stem from certain policies and consider where we’ve seen these in real life
  • Visit Batsto Village to learn about the economic systems that drove the NJ community from the late 1700s to the mid 1900s
  • Compare economic systems of the past to those of the present (and even the future!)
  • Collaboratively plan and shop for a class party from start to finish on a budget, using consensus to make decisions

Community Connections:

  • Philadelphia Federal Reserve trip
  • Philadelphia Mint trip
  • Haddonfield Economic Scavenger Hunt
  • Batsto Village trip
  • Philadelphia Water Works trip

Questions:

  • How do people, processes, and ideas work together within systems?
  • How can understanding systems help us create change?
  • What factors influence the choices individuals and organizations make?
  • What does it take to keep a complex system successful and sustainable?

     Student Choice:

Fashion Unstitched

Key Experiences:

  • Work with a seamstress on sewing a garment, accessory, etc.
  • Visit the Academy of Natural Sciences to view the Ecology of Fashion Exhibit.
  • Visit The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
  • Meet with designers, buyers, and other fashion industry experts to learn about their roles and how they interact with other parts of the system.
  • Watch documentaries about fast fashion and companies working toward more sustainable practices.

Community Connections:

  • The Fabric Workshop and Museum trip
  • Academy of Natural Sciences trip
  • Guest speakers from the fashion industry
  • Spend a day learning from a local seamstress and working with sewing machines

The Team Behind the Team

Key Experiences:

  • Visit Citizens Bank Park for a behind the scenes tour of the franchise
  • Speak with pro coaches, pro athletes, and behind the scenes management of local and national franchises, learning about their roles and how they interact with other parts of the “system”
  • Watch Copa71 to spark a conversation about the disparities between mens and womens professional sports

Community Connections:

  • Citizens Bank Park trip
  • Guest speakers from local professional sports teams

Questions:

  • How does what we expect to see influence what we actually see?
  • How can a shift in perspective change understanding?
  • How do creators intentionally guide an audience’s attention?
  • How do biases influence what we notice and believe?
  • How is attention directed, manipulated, or focused?

     Student Choice:

The Art & Science of Magic

Key Experiences:

  • Visit the Museum of Illusions to experience and reflect on their own cognitive biases
  • Meet with a psychologist to learn about the brain science behind perception
  • View a magic show, and engage in a discussion with the magician afterwards to learn more about his journey and processes
  • Research and learn to perform illusions and magic tricks

Community Connections:

  • Museum of Illusions trip
  • Jake Strong Magic show
  • Guest speaker: psychologist from Cooper University Hospital
  • Community magic shows throughout the school

Through Our Lens: Photovoice

Key Experiences:

  • Identify a topic of interest in the community that you’re curious about
  • Meet with professional photographers to learn how they capture an image and to learn photography basics
  • Journey to local towns to photograph images to capture your big idea
  • View the photography exhibit at the Princeton Art Museum to examine how photography can tell a story
  • Research the history of your chosen topic to back up your photography with evidence of the issue

Community Connections:

  • Princeton Art Museum trip
  • Local photo trips to Princeton, Collingswood, Haddonfield
  • Professional photography guest speakers (photographer, photojournalist)