Experiences

I do leveled dissections for my students. 6th graders dissect a owl pellet. 7th graders dissect frrgs (due to national frog shortages this year was a fish) and 8th graders dissect sheep hearts. The goal of this is to allow students to experience what a science lab is like. It is to fostered curiosity about the world around them and teach them that they can do challenging science. Its scary and smelly but they will learn a lot and could spark a long tern excitement in science

This is a project where students put together all of their genetic knowledge to make a monster, and see what kind of off spring they make. Often understanding how genetics pass down is challenging for students. This projects get students comfortable with doing Punnett squares and really demonstrates how some traits are seen in the next generation and some are not. When I did not do the project students understood less. 

This year we had a educator from John Ball Zoo come into our classroom and teach us about pollinators. It started with a trip to the zoo and will end with planting a garden. This program was able to show how the science we are learning about inside the classroom can have a impact on their local community. It also shows how small things we do can create larger changes. Creating a pollinator garden shows the students how they can care for their neighborhood. 

Through a non profit organisation, the SAGE program pushes into my classroom to provide hands on learning and experiments for my students. This program gives the students oppertunites to investigate science themselves. As they work they can explore scinee in a more authentic way. They can puzzle and create solutions, so topics are better understood and remembered for longer.