Fireweed Academy students are wrapping up a skeletal systems study while also learning about Day of the Dead, a centuries-old holiday mixing ancient Aztec and traditional customs celebrated throughout Mexico and Central America.

In teacher Stephanie Zuniga’s third- and fourth-grade classroom, students have solved the math problem of the week with a  Day of the Dead twist. They are reading “The Spirit of Tio Fernando,” a story about a young boy who learns about this special tradition.

Students also are learning about cylinders, rectangles, slabs and coils as they make bones for skeletons they are creating out of clay. It also is an opportunity to study proportion as students comparing the skeletons they are creating to a life-sized brown bear skeleton they have assembled in the classroom.

Some students also have chosen to bring photos of loved ones who have passed away to contribute to the “Day of the Dead” display.