Christmas break.

They have just completed several projects in their core curriculum, including a study of sounds of science.

According to principal Charlotte Ming: "Not only did they examine the concept of pitch and frequency, they actually applied their new found knowledge in the building of their own musical instruments, including guitars, chime bells, recorders and bongo drums!'' The project was devised by M1 Science teacher Kimberly Creichton.

"She even invited the deputy principal to bring his guitar to the class to demonstrate how strings are tuned to a certain pitch to produce different sounds!'' Mrs. Ming said.

The students were also busy with a "Family History'' project with M1 English teacher Laurie Daniels.

"They have conducted interviews with grandparents, created family trees, designed posters, made cassettes tapes of interviews, produced book reports and constructed a diorama depicting "the Best Bedroom in Bermuda (based on a selection entitled `The Best Bedroom in Brooklyn','' Mrs. Ming added.

"The children reported how exciting it was to hear their grandparents talk about the family history.'' "We learned things about our family which we never knew before!'' the children said.

Photos by Arthur Bean Oh Christmas tree! Clearwater students, from left, Angelica Carter, Corby Fox, Chris Perinchief, and Chris Furbert, show off their Christmas ornament project which they completed before the Christmas break.

Knowledge of their roots: Students at Clearwater proudly display drawings of their family trees. They were part of an end-of-term project. Pictured, from left, are Justin Trott, Mikaela Denbrook, Chelsea Knight, Jessica Almeida, and Oronde Bascome, at front.

Sound check: Clearwater Middle School M1 students Elise Johnston, at front, and Sara Araujo examine the concept of pitch and frequency during a Sound of Science project which their class carried out during the school term.