Grade 1 students took an expedition to The Nature of Color Exhibit at the Fernbank Museum last week to deepen their understanding of light, sound, color, and emotions as part of the Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) unit, “Boom Boom Flash.” Students engaged in hands-on experiences exploring how colors make people feel, what colors we associate with different emotions, how colors are perceived across cultures, and how plants and animals use color to help them survive.

To date, students have engaged in various activities on and off campus in Performing Arts, Science, Literacy, and Math.
To kick off the unit, Grade 1 had a dance party, filled with light, music and dancing. It was a fun and engaging way to begin intentional inquiry and set the tone for active learning.
Additionally in Science, they explored how people use sound to convey a feeling or message across a distance by examining pitch and vibration.
Prior to the Fernback expedition, Lower School counselor, Stephanie Corbett met with Grade 1 to introduce the “Zones of Regulation.” Using an anchor chart they developed a tool to help identify their needs when they feel a certain emotion by assigning each emotion a color.
- “What color would you use to express anger?” Every student chose red.
- “What color makes you feel happy?” Most chose yellow.

The experience at The Nature of Color exhibit built on the learning with Mrs. Corbett and other explorations on campus. During the exhibition, students had the opportunity to:
- Step into a color-changing room featuring a light lab to experiment with combining and separating colors to make white light
- “Paint” on a floor-to-ceiling interactive by moving their hands, and arranging mirrors and filters to create light art
- Explore the different feelings colors can evoke by arranging tiles to create combinations and share their personal reactions on a big screen
- Discover how colors can create a shared identity by examining the many uses of the color red throughout human history
- Learn about the rich history of the color blue with an interactive demonstration of the process of dying indigo fabric