GRANT spotlight: sps - science department
Patrick Newton, Department Head of Science for Scituate Public Schools shares his accolades with SEF, “The SPS Science Department has benefitted from the generosity of the SEF. Their support provided has allowed us to enrich the student experience through a variety of programs and opportunities, such as the development of a vernal pool learning program at the middle school and the incorporation of biotech equipment into the high school curricula.”
Scituate Public Schools’ Department of Science has received eight grants since SEF’s inception in 2016, five of which are highlighted here: Novel Engineering, Living Laboratory (three separate grants), and Polymerase Chain Reaction.
NOVEL ENGINEERING K-5 STEM
Novel Engineering is an integrated approach to teaching engineering and literacy to elementary school students. Students use characters and events in stories and novels to identify problems, then design and implement solutions while continuing to reinforce their reading skills.
New to the elementary school Technology/STEM curriculum, it was introduced by Liz Dorgan, Elementary Tech/STEM teacher. “We started with the book The Day the Crayons Came Home. Besides the humor, it shows different things happening to the crayons. They are melted, crushed, broken, etc. Then we researched how crayons are made through the Crayola factory video as well as the nonfiction book From Wax to Crayons. The students watched me melt crayons with a hair dryer. They then broke up crayons and we talked about how to repurpose them. We put them into candy molds which I returned to them as robot crayons for each of them to take home.”
LIVING LABORATORY PHASES I, II, & III
With the move to the new Gates Middle School, 6th grade teachers Dori Read and Jill Suddath recognized an amazing opportunity to enhance the curriculum, create a beautiful setting, and involve the community. Many of the elements needed for the development of a Living Lab were already in place: wetlands adjacent to the school, an observation platform providing access from the science classrooms and a community of educators, parents, and students who are open and committed to hands-on science learning opportunities.
Read and Suddath think the success of the grant is measurable not only in the classroom. In addition to Gates’ students and teachers, the Living Laboratory is a win for the entire community -- a beautiful, functional, and precious wetlands ecosystem which all ages can visit and learn and enjoy nature at her best. Artists are invited to come sketch, writers to write, outdoorsmen to hike, walk, or run, and musicians to perform.
POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR)
Polymerase chain reaction, not exactly a household phrase, is a process used in DNA analysis … and a very exciting and relevant addition to the high school’s biology lab. PCR is used by the biotech industry to amplify small sections of DNA that can then be used for a variety of applications such as forensics, gene therapy, and drug discovery.
The SEF grant funded the purchase of miniPCR equipment, enabling students to be exposed to techniques and skills that they can use in college labs or a possible career in the life sciences. “Students are able to take the real-world lab techniques involved in genetic testing and apply them to practical problems that we face today, such as agricultural yield and nutrition, personal genetic risk factors for diseases and disorders, or government oversight of mass safety and testing,” explains teacher Michael Zhang. Or, as simply put by one of his students, “Instead of just learning about food safety testing, we can actually learn how to test for E. coli contamination ourselves.”