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Pop quizBy Times staff writer© St. Petersburg Times published August 21, 2002 Editor's note: Each week, Pop Quiz will take a peek into an elementary, middle or high school classroom. If you wish to see a topic addressed, please send your idea to Top of the Class, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Q: What is an eighth-grade science class working on at the beginning of the school year? A: Laura Calkins, who teaches at Tyrone Middle School, already has her students thinking about the Pinellas Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The fair is held in February, but Calkins encourages her students to complete their projects before winter break so they can save themselves -- and their parents -- the stress of working on them during family time. Because eighth-graders concentrate on the physical sciences, Calkins' students will investigate magnetism, electricity, matter and chemistry. She has provided them with books from the media center to help them narrow their focus. "By no means do I tell them which (projects) they have to do," she said. "You keep a close eye on them and help them make a good choice." The science fair is a valuable experience for students, Calkins said, because it gives them an opportunity to expand on what they learn in the classroom. They get to choose a project they're interested in, come up with a theory, and then conduct experiments to find out if their theory is correct. Calkins never allows them to change their hypothesis in the middle of an experiment. She believes that some of the best learning takes place when their theories turn out to be wrong. "A lot of times, physical science is such an abstract process," she said, adding that students need to watch an experiment unfold to understand the principles.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Editorial Letters |
