MMS Science Class

🐝🌼 As I was cleaning up and getting ready to leave school today after spending the day working outside, I found myself reflecting on just how much has changed this school year.

I stopped for a moment to watch a bumblebee on a flower and realized something incredible: none of this was here last fall.

In just 9–10 months, we’ve created a pollinator garden, an outdoor classroom, improved our outdoor workspaces, and transformed areas of our campus into places where students can learn, explore, and connect with nature. 🌱🌻

None of this would have been possible without the amazing support of so many people. Thank you to our students, teachers, administrative team, Lifepoint Church, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, World Wildlife Fund, Keep NC Beautiful, Murray Middle School PTA, New Hanover County Compost Department , our community volunteers, and everyone else who donated their time, resources, encouragement, and hard work to make these projects a reality. ❤️

Next year will be especially meaningful as we celebrate our 25th anniversary. I’m incredibly grateful to have called Murray Middle School home for 20 of those years.

I hope everyone has a safe, relaxing, and well-deserved summer. Thank you for helping us grow something special. We can’t wait to see what we accomplish together when we’re back in the fall! 🌿☀️🐝

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🌎✨ Earth Week Challenge – Help Our School Win $1,000! ✨🌎

In celebration of Earth Day (April 22), we’re participating in a special Earth Week Challenge—and we need your help! 🌱

From April 19–25, families can request a FREE energy efficiency kit through the Duke Energy EE in Schools Program.

💡 Why participate?

The school with the most kit requests wins $1,000 to support our classrooms!
Every kit also helps us earn additional rewards and prizes
You’ll get tools to help save energy at home
It’s a win for our school AND for the environment 🌍

👉 Order your free kit here: https://hehc.duke-energy.com/k12

Let’s work together to make a difference and bring home that $1,000! 💚

https://americasfavteacher.org/2026/robert-roth

Is Robert Roth America's Favorite Teacher? I love teaching because I make a difference every day—helping struggling students think differently and bringing science to life.

🌊🐢 A Big Thank You to Our Amazing Murray Middle School PTA! 🐢🌊

We want to give a huge shout-out to the incredible Murray PTA for helping bring outreach educator Kristin from the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher to our school this week!

Kristin visited all of our 8th grade science classes and shared engaging programs about local habitats, coastal wildlife, sea turtles, and more. Our students had the opportunity to learn from a real expert and explore the amazing ecosystems right here in North Carolina. 🌿🌎

Experiences like this truly bring science to life for our students, and we are so grateful to both the aquarium and our PTA for making this unique learning opportunity possible. Because of their continued support, Murray students get to experience learning in meaningful and memorable ways every day.

Thank you for helping make Murray such a special place to learn! 💙

🐢🌊📚

Help our school, save energy, and get a FREE energy efficiency kit! ⚡♻️

Duke Energy customers can request a free energy savings kit at
👉 www.duke-energy.com/energyshow or call 877-334-1724

✔️ Save energy at home
✔️ Support our school with reward opportunities

It’s a win for families, our school, and the planet! 🌍💚

🌊🎨 Science meets art in the BEST way! 🎨🌊

In science class, students dove into an aquatic food web by researching different organisms and their roles in the ecosystem 🦠🐟🌿. They then created beautiful watercolor paintings showing each organism’s place in the food chain—and wow, the talent on display was incredible!

To wrap it up, students analyzed each other’s research and artwork to determine which organisms had the greatest impact on the ecosystem…aka the keystone species 🧠🔍. It was a thoughtful, creative, and hands-on learning experience that sparked some great conversations about ecosystems and balance.

We are continually amazed by our students’ creativity and critical thinking. Their skills—and their willingness to express themselves—never cease to impress us! 💙👏

🧠🔍 What We Did in Science Class Today! 🔍🧠

Today’s learning target was to develop an understanding of how comparative anatomy serves as the foundation for a biological classification system.

Students used everyday hardware objects to design their own classification systems based on shared characteristics. The challenge? Their systems had to be transferable (usable by others) and flexible enough to include new discoveries. 🛠️📊

Through this activity, students modeled the real-world challenges scientists face when using comparative anatomy to classify organisms—especially when working with fossils and incomplete evidence. 🦴🔬

Great critical thinking, collaboration, and scientific reasoning on display today! 👏✨

Congratulations to Gracie and Jadon, our Falcons of the Week! Thank you both for modeling the 4Rs at Murray each day!