Teachable Moments is a glimpse into the CPS classroom experience. Each month, we collect snapshots from around the city that provide insight into the quality of curriculum and the talent of the teaching staff found in all our schools. This month, we asked principals and teachers to tell us how they impart the wonder of science to their students and within their school. CAMBRIDGE, MA [03/05/09] A message from CPS Science Coordinator Lisa Scolaro-Santy: This month, the Haggerty (March 12) and the Graham and Parks (March 25) will host school-based science fairs. Other schools will be hosting their own fairs as we lead up to our district-wide Science EXPO held at MIT on Tuesday, April 28th. More than 350 Cambridge Public School 7th and 8th grade students will showcase “inquiry” at its finest on the campus of the institution that consistently redefines science as we know it. But what is “inquiry”? Well, the National Research Council defines “inquiry” as "a multifaceted activity that involves making observations; posing questions; examining books and other sources of information to see what is already known; planning investigations; reviewing what is already known in light of experimental evidence; using tools to gather, analyze, and interpret data; proposing answers, explanations, and predictions; and communicating the results.” Inquiry requires identification of assumptions, the use of critical and logical thinking, and consideration of alternative explanations. Research has shown that when students spend quality time in inquiry-based activities, it significantly boosts the development of cognitive ability. Science fair projects allow our students to access all facets of a true inquiry experience. On the surface they seem fairly simple: a student chooses a question to answer, engages in the research process, formulates a testable hypothesis, and designs an experiment. During the experimentation, the student collects and analyzes data using appropriate tools and draws conclusions based on his or her own findings in light of published research. All of these are also what educators call “21st Century skills”, the know-how needed to succeed in our ever-evolving world. Science fair projects provide students the opportunity to learn scientific content, but what makes them such useful teaching tools is that they are truly interdisciplinary. The report that accompanies each student’s presentation reinforces the research and citation skills taught in English class. In addition to expanding a student's library skills, the science fair project lets students work on their computer research skills, struggle with the selection of appropriate Internet sources, and learn many of the common computer programs. During the analysis of data math skills are honed and the interaction with peers and adults during the actual fair allows a student to work on their presentation skills. The display itself is a testament to a student's ability to pare down a research paper into the important components necessary to communicate the steps he or she has taken and articulate the conclusions reached. Finally, students are fully engaged in the scientific process and act as "real scientists" as they let their inquisitiveness drive the focus of their learning. And learning is what we’re all about. Lisa Scolaro-Santy can be reached at lsanty@cpsd.us.
The Long Term Observations Project The Long Term Observation Project has always been a popular one with my students and allows them to learn a lot about the process of science through studying something of interest in their daily lives. At times, students have collected data on their mood, but they have to create their own scale so they can list down a number for it. Other students have chosen topics such as hours of sleep, hours of homework, or information about the weather. Some creative observations have included counting the number of leaves that fall into a given spot in their yard, how much water evaporates out of a container each day, or even how much hair a pet sheds. The main criteria is to choose something of interest to the student that they will remember to record each day. For a junior high student 35 days of data is a long time!! Once all the data is recorded, students are asked to make graphs from the data, calculate statistics based on all these numbers and then write a paper analyzing what they have come to understand about the data from their graphs and statistics. Students often learn new things about themselves once they look at their graphs. As a teacher I have also gained valuable insights about my student's lives. Students also say that doing the assignment was a good chance to learn how a graphing program works on the computer. I lead the students through this work in a step by step way, but when all the work is put together at the end, it makes for an impressive project. Students are usually pleased on the final day as they are handing in a big thick packet of papers, with graphs, data tables and a written work. They see that real science comes from their everyday lives and the importance and the new insights possible from observing a topic for an extended length of time. Inquiry Into Light in Kindergarten How does light travel? How are shadows created? What kinds of material does light pass through? These may sound like questions that upper elementary students - or even professional scientists! - would explore, but in fact, these questions triggered many investigations in the kindergarten classrooms at Cambridgeport School this winter. It all began when I and fellow teacher Lorna Holland took a course for teachers at Boston University last summer - Immersion in Geometrical Optics - taught by Physics Professor Andrew Duffy. This course motivated our own wondering about the properties of light and inspired us to investigate the phenomena with our students. Even though light is not specifically one of the kindergarten science units, we knew that using flashlights would be of high interest to students. More importantly, we knew this would nurture inquiry skills like questioning, problem-solving, testing hypotheses, and respecting evidence, all of which would have applications for all of the kindergarten curriculum requirements. Over the course of eight weeks, our students focused on how light travels in a straight path, how obstructed light creates shadows, and how various materials - such as cellophane, wax paper, and construction paper - can affect the paths of light. We never directly told students about concepts. They discovered them on their own through hands-on experiments, and they talked about their findings and questions through carefully guided discussions, and recorded their observations in science notebook entries. The Roller Coaster Project As a culminating project for the 8th grade physics unit, my students use foam pipe insulation tubes to design and build a model roller coaster. For inspiration, we watch a Nova episode called "Roller coaster!" Then students work in small groups to create a design on paper that must be approved before building begins. Students enjoy working with the materials and using stopwatches to time how long it takes a marble to travel through the finished coaster. They use the data to calculate average speed and some groups break it down even further by determining the speed in different sections of the coaster. Each group also creates a poster to explain how physics relates to roller coasters. This is a fun way to review as well as apply what they have learned before the final physics test. Bertolt Brecht's “Galileo” At the Amigos School, Social Studies teacher Michael Batt and I collaborated to produce Bertolt Brecht's play “Galileo” as a culminating event of our students’ study of Astronomy. The play was a component of an arts immersion unit that that required students to look at the relationship between new information and established power structures from scientific, historical, literary and theatrical perspectives. Students approached the material in conjunction with Cambridge's Page to Stage Young playwright's program and demonstrated mastery of the topic through the writing of short plays. It also set the stage for their study of Evolution, both examples of similar conflicts between ideas and power structures in our society today. Exploring the solar system Nothing is more fascinating or hard to imagine than the size of our solar system! At the Martin Luther King Jr. School, project based learning gives our students an opportunity to explore science topics in new ways. Christine Fetter's fourth grade students are getting their hands dirty creating paper mache and clay models of the planets. With the support of the project based learning team, Librarian Sarah Novogrodsky, Art Teacher Suzie Blackburn, and Math Coach Monica Leon, students researched the planets and created accurately-scaled models by learning about the diameter and circumference of spherical objects and blowing up balloons to the approximate size of the gas planets. It took a special team of students to create the other planets because their circumferences were so small in comparison. These celestial bodies will be orbiting the library as soon as they are dry and all of the students in the school will have a chance to consider the relative size of our solar system! DaVinci’s blending of arts and science As an Art Educator, I teach Fundamentals of Art & Sculpture, and painting classes. But the importance of science in art is not lost on me or my students. Developing critical thinkers is an important part of teaching in the 21st Century. We have studied the work of Leonardo DaVinci and how he merged the arts and sciences. In that same vein, I have encouraged my students to engage in critical thinking to face issues impacting us in the 21st Century. Students came up with Food, Water and Fuel. In one of my classes, we are utilizing a hydroponic garden to grow vegetable plants. In order to address the issue of food, we utilized industrial design concepts to solve the problem with the Hydroponic Garden. Our garden was constructed in my classroom where we are now growing tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. The fish that live in our garden feed the plants with their waste. FIRST ROBOTICS Engineering Challenge Competition
Working after school and on weekends, the students have applied their collective brain power to design a machine, devise a computer program, build, and then test and retest their the self-propelled mechanical robot. And they call their robot “The Lunacy.” Rindge’s team of student engineers have been devising and constructing their robotic machines while collaborating along side engineering mentor/volunteers from both local robotic industries and MIT graduate and undergraduate students. More than 42,000 students compete internationally against 1680 school teams from all over the world, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Israel, The Philippines, and Great Britain. FIRST ROBOTICS is the brainchild Dean Kamen, the indomitable inventor of The Segway: the two wheel, one-person, self-propelled human transporter. Kamen organized this annual robotic challenge more than 15 years ago to inspire the nation’s most gifted school students to apply their academic passion to the science of engineering technology. The goal is to entice high school students with the rewards of science, technology and competitive engineering. FIRST ROBOTICS competition offers these Rindge students the learning experience of working in real world engineering laboratory conditions, working collaboratively along side of some of the world’s best robotic engineers. They learn how to apply their collective ingenuity to show their best for the rigorous engineering challenge. To be successful in the worldwide competition, CRLS’s Lunancy must complete two tasks: pick up the largest number of game balls (labeled “moon balls”) and successfully place the maximum number of “moon balls” in their competition’s robotic trailer hitch. The “Moon Balls” are light-weight, 9 inch hollow orbs made up two-and-a-half inch plastic straps glued together to form a sphere. The winning team of students is the one that can successfully manipulate their mechanized robotic trailer throughout the 2 minute and 15 second competitive match-up, ending up with the least number of “moon balls” robotically placed in their trailer hitch. Remote control robotics utilizing a joystick operate each mechanized robotic trailer. Each team must operate their robot on low-friction floors: which means the team must contend with the daunting laws of physics. Each team is provided with a $6000 tool kit of parts to build their mechanized robots. In addition students are allowed up to an additional $4000 for tools and spare parts. To that mighty sum CRLS contributed $2000, and RSTA another $2000. Funds and engineering equipment for this year’s team have been donated by the collaborative efforts of MIT, Draper Labs, VECNA Robotics, Blue Fin Robotics. |
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Fifteen CRLS students will enter their mechanized robotic invention in this year’s annual FIRST Robotics competition this month at Boston University. This year’s team, comprised of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, has spent countless hours working together over the past six weeks, preparing for the competition under the direction of RSTA engineering teacher Conrad Hauck.