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Top of the class

A learning experiment

Earth science students at Meadowlawn Middle School try out a new curriculum that uses a hands-on approach.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published May 4, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Earth science students at Meadowlawn Middle School got a boost this year from a University of South Florida professor and a $1.5-million grant.

While sixth-graders at other schools read textbooks to learn about plants and soil, rocks and minerals, volcanoes and earthquakes, the Meadowlawn children conducted hands-on experiments to get a taste of what it would be like to solve real-world problems.

Their windfall originated a year ago when USF St. Petersburg professor Chin-Tang Liu submitted a grant proposal to the University of California at Berkeley. Liu, who did postgraduate work on improving student education in science and math, had learned about an inquiry-based curriculum approach called "Issues in Earth Science." He thought the program, which is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, would be a boon for sixth-grade earth science teachers.

Shortly after he found out that USF would became the only field test center in Florida and one of 10 in the country to try out the new curriculum, he approached the Pinellas County School District. Meadowlawn Middle School was chosen as the pilot school for the project.

"Student response has been very positive," Liu said. "Traditionally, science curriculum is very boring. So often teachers lecture. This is a very hands-on curriculum. It puts science in a wonderful context for students."

Meadowlawn science teachers Nancy Stitt and Shirley Green introduced the curriculum to their students in August after accompanying Liu to Berkeley for program training. The students latched onto the curriculum immediately, Green said. They approached concepts she has taught for years with enthusiasm. She said she thinks it's because the lessons are presented in a way that make more sense to kids.

For a lesson on erosion, for example, the students donned blue laboratory aprons and plastic goggles and set up "stream tables" at their work stations. Clustered in groups of four, they opened their Issues in Science workbooks to Chapter 13 and began reading the instructions for a lesson titled "Cutting Canyons."

At a table near the window, Sean Leathem filled a syringe with water, then handed it off to lab partner Ryan Hoagland. Ryan positioned the syringe over the stream table and slowly released the plunger.

"It's not really doing anything, said Amanda Miller. "Maybe we put in too much sand."

She filled the syringe with more water and dribbled it over the soil. This time, the water began to cut a path.

"We have a river," Amanda said excitedly. "It looks like it's started to carry the sand away."

"It looks like a delta," said Kelsey Tellinghuisen, who was seated next to Amanda.

"Good for you, Kelsey" said Green, who had stopped by to observe. "That's exactly what it is."

Green suggested they drain the water from the container, repack it with sand and think of ways to change what they did to get a different result.

The idea, Green said after the class had ended, was to introduce them to the concept of variables. The more they experiment, the more they get out of the experiment, she said.

And the more opportunity they have for hands-on investigation, the more likely they are to understand the underlying concepts, said Robert Orlopp, K-12 science supervisor.

"In a typical earth science classroom, we would teach them about wind and water erosion," he said. "We would basically just tell them, "This is how the land was formed.' "

Retention of earth science concepts will come in handy two years from now when the students take the science FCAT, Orlopp said. The curriculum also is helping them gain general FCAT skills because they must apply inquiry-based thinking and then graph their results.

"Overall," he said, "I think they will remember the lesson a whole lot longer than if they had been lectured to."

[Last modified May 4, 2005, 00:57:19]