Gorham Middle School SAIL

 The 6th-grade science excursion group attended a Zoom meeting with scientist  Jaida Elcock. She shared her journey to becoming a scientist and her shark research with the group. 

  SAIL-math students are currently participating in a national math competition.  Teams are matched first by skill level so that the competition is even and then by common time availability so that teams can play live where possible. Data from the 2 Qualifying rounds are used to determine bracket assignments. The top 64 teams are assigned to the Title bracket. The remaining teams are then evenly placed in additional brackets based on team size, with all teams competing in a bracket. Within each bracket, teams are sorted by skill and seeded accordingly, following NCAA March Madness protocol. We have three teams competing in this bracket-style tournament: an 8th-grade, a 7th-grade, and a 6th-grade team. All teams just completed their first qualifying round.  Out of 48 middle school teams, the 8th grade is currently ranked 4th, the 7th grade is 18th, and the 6th grade is 27th. We have one more qualifying round to complete, and then it's our first bracket round! 

  New this year, SAIL has a 6th-grade science excursion group. Students completed observations over the summer and are now using those observations to create Nature Notes for the Findings from the Field Science Journal.   Here is a brief overview of the process of publishing work in Findings from the Field: Step 1.  Students use their observations to produce a Nature Note.  Step 2.  Students submit their work to the online platform.  Step 3.  Students perform two peer reviews of scientific work from other Maine and New Hampshire schools. Step 4.  Students receive peer review and editorial board feedback. Accepted submissions are published in the Gulf of Maine Institute's online Ecological and Environmental Science journal.  Step 5.  Yay! We celebrate if students are selected for publication!  In addition to Nature Notes, the science excursion group will participate in the Scientist-To-Go program. This program  connects students with a wide range of   scientists   from different bac