STEM Excitement and Excellence Grant Recipients

Project title

Twister Science Laboratory

Project background

The goal of this project is to immerse Terwilliger fifth grade students in a world of science by transforming a simple classroom into a science laboratory! When students enter the ‘Twister Science Laboratory’, they will explore, interact with, and experience science. The room will have an area focused on each Florida NGSSS body of knowledge, including nature of, earth, space, physical, and life science. When students enter the ‘Twister Science Laboratory,’ they will don their scientist gear of a lab coat and goggles. Each week, students will participate in a hands-on activity aligned to the current benchmark focus. Instead of simply reading about insect life cycles, students will be able to create an interactive display using mini insect models. Instead of trying to understand the challenging concept of ‘density’ by reading about it in a textbook, students will be able to test the density of a variety of materials with density cubes. When learning about the types of rocks, instead of trying to imagine what lays underground, students will be able to hold a scaled model of the earth to see the size differences between the layers of the earth and observe the differences in rock samples. Instead of just viewing photos of human body organs, students will see, touch, and interact with a full scale model skeleton, and models of the heart, brain, and other major organs. Students will be able to explore the properties of minerals with streak plates nails, and hammers. They will explore a three-dimensional model of a flower and grow their own plants. During the weather unit, students will morph into meteorologists as they measure precipitation, wind, and temperature using rain gauges, anemometers, and thermometers. These are just a few examples of the weekly science activities and inquiries that will excite students, while exposing them to state science standards in a fun and interactive way.

Project title

Elementary is Engineering!

Project background

With the STEM Grant, Lake Forest Elementary School plans to purchase engineering materials that would aid in the learning of 55 3rd grade students. Lake Forest Elementary School is a title one school that has students who have not had opportunities like this before. With 6 weeks of curriculum time allotted to “The Engineering Process and STEM Challenges,” creating hands-on learning experiences are vital for student learning and to encourage a passion for STEM and engineering. To achieve this goal, the purchase of 2 Engineering is Elementary Kits would be made which would be used in support of detailed lesson plans that are aligned with Florida’s 3rd Grade Science Standards for Engineering and STEM. The first kit would be the Liftoff: Engineering Rockets and Rovers where students would design and test their own rockets. The second kit, “Now You’re Cooking: Designing Solar Systems”, would provide students an opportunity to create their own solar ovens where students would use the engineering process to learn about solar energy, which connects to the 3rd Grade Florida Science Standards on heat and energy from the Sun. The Engineering is Elementary kits are data backed, and have been proven to promote learning in a hands on and problem solving way.

Project title

Making Outdoor Education and Project-Based Learning Available to All Learners

Project background

In the third consecutive year of this grant’s funding, we significantly expanded the school garden system, bringing authentic agricultural and environmental science education to our entire standard and honors level (non-magnet program) environmental science 9th grade class, and once again took a group of upperclassmen marine science students, this year significantly more, to Cedar Key to explore marine and estuarine habitats. In prior years, this project almost exclusively benefitted older students, those enrolled in marine science, a post-biology and thus 11-12th grade elective, and AICE Environmental Science, a mostly senior course in the Cambridge academic magnet program. This year, we were able to include both of our 9th grade Environmental science teachers, Ms Matteucci and Mr Martinez, who eagerly took on the tasks of incorporating gardening and outdoor education into their courses. Ms Matteucci in particular eagerly dove in, spearheading the new series of gardens that are located by the ninth-grade center at GHS, and incorporating plant and agricultural curriculum throughout the second half of the year. Both teachers received grow tables through the project, and used these for seed starting and plant growth experiments while studying agriculture and pollution. The new gardens on the North side of campus contain multiple raised beds which are irrigated and were assembled by Ms. Matteucci, and have been tended by her students since. She harvested the first batch of GHS potatoes last week, and the students were excited to see the outcomes of their labor. The field trip side of this grant funded the trip of 84 students from GHS, mostly from our standard level marine science programs with some attendees from the AICE Marine science course. This year, we visited three main sites, including the new to us clam processing facility on the outskirts of Cedar Key, where students met local fishermen and learned about aquaculture and the economics of small-scale fisheries. We were able to cross apply concepts from prior science classes on this trip, as the fishermen told us about how Hurricane Idalia destroyed a large number of the clam beds this local community relies upon, making way for a discussion on climate change and how warming oceans could affect Florida’s coastal communities. In addition to exploring marine aquaculture, we visited the Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge, where we hiked a tidal estuarine trail and sought out seabirds, crabs, and other wildlife. Students finished the day with lunch on the beach, where we netted some small shoreline invertebrates and learned a bit more about shorebirds by watched the sanderlings and dunlin scattered on the beach. The trip was a huge hit, with many students visiting the gulf (or any marine body) for the first time. Throughout the day, we heard students making authentic discoveries, making connections, and cooperating with friends and classmates to complete scavenger hunts and observations of the marine ecosystems they were visiting. Finally, several aspects of this project have continued on from prior years, with minor expansions this year. Students in advanced environmental and marine science courses are still using the materials purchased in past years to survey wild populations, identify plants, and test for water and soil quality in their local and school environments. We purchased a small amount of refill chemicals for this year that helped keep these labs going, and a few more tape measurers to increase the number of students able to participate kinesthetically in survey-based class activities. Additions to the science wing pollinator and botanic gardens helped further enrich the education of our advanced Environmental Management students, who continued to use these outdoor spaces for nature journaling, lab work, and qualitative ecosystem studies. Students were responsible for planting and helping to maintain the gardens, so in addition to the educational benefits they also feel ownership and responsibility over the continued maintenance of this space. I often see students using the picnic tables purchased by this grant, and my students will often elect to pick up trash or other rubbish they see in the gardens and bring it inside for disposal unprompted. Through these gardens we have instilled a sense of pride in our school ecosystem, and helped educated hundreds of students on the importance of environmental stewardship.

Project title

Science Stampede

Project background

The grant will allow for professional development to regularly bring together novice science teachers (grades 3-5) to address standards of concern based on district quarterly AIMs assessments and to increase the number of hands-on investigations students participate in during the school year. Teachers will identify 3-5 standards of concern from quarterly AIMS assessments and curate activities from district approved resources to remediate and reinforce these concepts. This project addresses this by incorporating The Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012) and the guiding principles this document outlines: Children are natural investigators Focus on Core ideas and practices Learning progressions Science and engineering require both knowledge and practice Connections to learner’s interests and experiences equity for all students Three dimensions of the framework will provide the strategies and overarching goals of this professional development opportunity: Scientific and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Disciplinary Core Ideas.

Project title

Cade Science Museum Trips

Project background

This project will promote engagement in STEM learning by immersing students in hands-on learning at the Cade Museum which will stimulate their curiosity and bring science to life. We are interested in promoting equity by providing an opportunity for all students to have access to this unique learning opportunity regardless of socioeconomic barriers. We want all of our students to believe that they are capable of becoming scientists or having a future career in the STEM field. Students will engage in a 1-hour lab experience in the Creativity Lab and embark on 1 hour of facilitated museum immersion to interact with the Cade Museum exhibits through educator-guided activities and experiments.

Project title

Technological Tools in Classroom Experiments

Project background

This project is an initiative to foster innovation, critical thinking, and hands-on learning among our middle school students at High Springs Middle School. Our collaborative 8th grade science and math project aims to introduce Rocketry as an enrichment activity to our space unit, where students can not only build and launch rockets but also enhance their creativity and problem-solving skills by utilizing a 3-D printer to design custom fins and nosecones, with hypothesizing flight patterns and determining results. The integration of 3-D printing technology will not only enhance the learning experience but also provide students with real-world applications of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) principles.

Project title

Learning Walks in the Science Classroom

Project background

Fort Clarke Middle School has implemented Learning Walks over the course of the last two school years in the area of Reading/Literacy. We would like to expand upon learning walks and implement them into Science classes this upcoming school year. 50% of our science teachers are new to Fort Clarke Middle School this school year and we feel it’s a great opportunity to build common knowledge and integrate collaborative planning/conversations.

Project title

VEX @ BHS Robotics Club Expansion

Project background

The purpose of this grant will be to give more students access to the Robotics program by purchasing needed equipment for our existing teams to complete their bots, and also to purchase another bot kit to launch an additional competitive team. In particular, a pneumatics kit for every robot is essential to compete at the advanced level of play. We are planning to buy a portable field perimeter, which will improve the student’s ability to develop autonomous programs for their bot, which is often the difference between a win and a loss at the higher levels of competition. We will also use the award to fund our team registrations, so all teams can compete in at least two competitions this year, and students who are unable to pay their dues are not excluded from the ability to compete. Competitions are an essential chance for students to visit other schools and play against other teams, seeing new ideas and refining their own based on their experience.