Every Student Has A Story: Every Student Is A Scientist
"I want to be a biomedical engineer," aspires Ava, current Silver Lake Intermediate School seventh-grader. Jackson, another Silver Lake seventh-grader, wants to be a paleontologist. While not every student at Silver Lake has ambitions for a career in science and engineering, it is our work as educators to ensure all our students experience success in science classes. We develop readers, writers, mathematicians, and scientists too! Every student has a story and in that story every student can see his/herself as a scientist.
This is the first year of implementation of our new science curriculum, Amplify Science, at grades 6-8. According to the Amplify Curriculum, "it blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. Amplify uses real-world problems to explore scientific phenomena. It is inquiry-based in which students work collaboratively, engage in discussion and construct models to arrive at solutions."
Sixth-graders learned about microbiomes earlier this school year. It was around the same time when there was an outbreak of E. coli in lettuce. Sixth-grade teacher, Mary Williams stated, "While we were learning about the microbiomes, students learned about E. coli and how bad that particular microorganism is on the human body. The kids were excited about the connection they made between the E. coli outbreak and their learning in the classroom, especially the importance of recalling foods affected by E. coli. For a lot of our students the relevance and application to their own lives heightens their engagement and helps them make sense of their learning."
In seventh-grade, students embarked on solving mysteries. Ava really enjoyed a "Cookie Mystery" hands-on experiment in which she and her classmates tested different substances to see how they interacted with baking ingredients. Jackson enjoyed figuring out mystery fossils. Engagement is key to student learning. Mysteries can be highly engaging when coupled with hands-on experiences.
Amplify is also rich in literacy-based activities. Students' stories as learners may include the love of reading and writing; while others may experience challenges in reading and writing. Amplify offers access to the text-to-speech feature. Students can turn on this feature and the articles in the Amplify library can be read aloud as well as a teacher's ability to assign a reading level appropriate to a student's needs. David, an eighth grader, utilizes the text-to speech feature. "I like Amplify because I can have articles read to me. I am able to understand science better because the words on the screen light up as I follow along. This helps me, and it also makes me think about things."
Many of our students' stories include the love of technology. With the deployment of Chromebooks this school year at all grades at the intermediate level, students utilize their device to access and engage with the Amplify curriculum. Allison, Silver Lake sixth-grader, says it is easier to stay organized in science using the Chromebook. She also likes the ability to turn in work with just a touch of a button. Students can also engage in digital simulations. For example, for abstract concepts such as plate tectonics, students utilize a digital simulation to gain understanding. Simulations allow for accessing the normally inaccessible concepts.
"We want our students to experience success at the intermediate level in science classes so they take those successes and use them to propel forward into high school classes and beyond. We want to be the foundation of science inquiry that grows our students' curiosities and for every student's story to include access to and engagement in science," explained Silver Lake Intermediate Principal, Jill Marr.
Photo:
Silver Lake Intermediate School, OASD School Board Presentation on January 15, 2019
Back – left to right: Tina Heinecke-Kurtz, Silver Lake Intermediate Teacher, Mary Williams, Silver Lake Intermediate Teacher, Dan Gebauer, Silver Lake Intermediate Associate Principal, Jill Marr, Silver Lake Intermediate Principal, Jackson S., student
Front – left to right: Corinne Herreid, Silver Lake Intermediate Teacher, Silver Lake students: Allison B., Ava F., Toby H., Logan W., Ryan Y., Ava R., Claire P.