From curiosity to clicks: Fourth Grade’s Guinea Pig website

This school year, Advent welcomed two adorable new additions to the community: Mochi and S’Mores, the guinea pigs who now call 99 West Cedar home! From the very beginning, students have been actively involved in their care—participating in ranked choice voting to determine their names and even building a guinea pig maze on Maker Day.

Not surprisingly, Mochi and S’Mores quickly sparked curiosity among students. Questions began to emerge: Where do guinea pigs come from? What do they eat? What kind of shelter do they need? How do they play and interact with one another?

Inspired by this enthusiasm, Advent Fourth Grade Co-teachers Kate Boswell and Jenn Meader partnered with Learning Specialist Maura Kiernan and Upper School Atelierista Stephanie Foland to launch a Research & Investigation unit centered on these questions. Rooted in the Reggio Emilia approach, the project began with careful observation. Students spent time watching Mochi and S’Mores—how they moved, ate, rested, and interacted—using their observations to generate and organize meaningful research questions.

Working in collaborative groups, students explored topics such as shelter and housing, play and exercise, history and geography, characteristics and breeds, socialization and bonding, and diet. As they researched, they documented new discoveries and compiled a growing list of “fun facts” to share with others.

The unit also provided rich opportunities to practice informational writing. Students drafted, revised, and refined informative articles that synthesized what they had learned through research. Recognizing that their work might inspire other children to adopt guinea pigs as pets, students also included practical advice for caring for these animals—drawing on their firsthand experience helping care for Mochi and S’Mores.

Technology became another avenue for expression and communication, as students worked together to build their own website to showcase their research, writing, and discoveries.

This project beautifully reflected Advent’s commitment to curiosity, collaboration, and learning through authentic experiences. We are so proud of the thoughtful questions, careful research, and strong writing our Fourth Graders produced—and we hope you enjoy exploring their website!