Science- Relevant, Meaningful, and Hands-on
As Carlsbad Unified rolls out
the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), we are challenged to view science
from a dynamic new perspective. NGSS describes three dimensions that are
elements of instruction at all levels:
1- Core ideas: the specific
content and subject areas of science;
2- Science and engineering
practices: the methods of scientists and engineers; and
3- Cross-cutting concepts: key
underlying ideas that are common to studying science.
Here’s what science looks like
at Pacific Rim Elementary School in Mrs. Hamabe’s 3rd grade class. The Mojave
Living Desert Garden exhibit has a contest that encourages students to guess
when their desert tortoise Maxine will emerge from brumation (reptilian
hybernation). Mrs. Hamabe’s students
studied about brumation and how it is impacted by weather (core ideas);
analyzed data from past years (science and engineering practices), so her
students were prepared to make good predictions and estimations (cross-cutting
concepts). Of the 1,200 students who guessed when Maxine would emerge, Jolie, a student in Mrs. Hamabe’s class, had the date and
time estimation that was closest to the actual time of Mojave Maxine's
emergence, and was the San Diego County winner of California’s Mojave Maxine
Desert Tortoise Emergence Contest. The Living Desert came out to Mrs. Hamabe’s
class with a real desert tortoise to celebrate Jolie’s successful estimation.
Ask a student in Mr. Sottile’s and Ms. Ludka’s Calavera Hills Middle School science class “Why are you and your team crawling around on the ground making a roller coaster out of rubber strips and wooden blocks” and you will find out. “We have been learning about potential and kinetic energy and gravity,” explains a student. “We are trying to get as much potential and kinetic energy out of this roller coaster as we can.”
Calavera Hills Elementary and
Middle Schools are debuting their new Maker Space this month. With Qualcomm’s
Thinkabit Lab as their inspiration and with funding from CEF, the schools set
out to create a place where students can use their knowledge and ingenuity to
design and build. Students can extend their learning by designing a solution to
a real-life challenge-- building it, testing it, and then refining it. The lab
is equipped with a variety of building materials including arduinos and servos
so the creations can be coded and computer-controlled, a 3D printer, and an
engraver.
These schools are pioneering the
Project Lead the Way STEM curriculum which encourages students to “apply what they know, identify problems, find unique
solutions, and lead their own learning.” Students can study robotics, CAD
design, and Bio-med.
The Maker Space will give the
schools another tool to make learning relevant and meaningful. These are the
skills that our businesses tell us they are looking for in employees,
and the skills that will support our students in life and in the careers of
their choosing.
In the words of a CHMS
student, “If I can dream it I can build
it.”
