Pre-Kindergarten Science

The report below is from ReSET's Harold Sharlin; it describes his science program for 3 year olds.  ReSET is interested in recruiting volunteers to reach more pre-Kindergarten students.  Unlike ReSET's elementary school program, volunteers need not have an education or background as professional scientists, engineers or technicians - just a commitment to helping young children gain an early foothold on science learning. Please let us know if you know of anyone in the DC area who may be interested in volunteering. 

"I finished my training program at Sunshine Early Learning Center in southeast Washington.  I taught 12 teachers (6 in a group) who teach 120 three year olds. Each group met with  me for one hour over a four week period. The course was an introduction to electricity.

          I gave each teacher a kit consisting of a 6-volt battery, a wall switch, bell wire, a bulb, an electric bell, a screwdriver and a wire stripper.  I demonstrated how to make a series circuit. Then each of them created their own series circuit.  The most fun is using the wire stripper.  They put together and dismantle the circuit several times as I watch so that they are confident enough to create a circuit in their class.

         The circuit is fundamental to the use of electric power from the cell phone to refrigerators.  Each teacher received a four page handbook that I made with instructions on how to make the circuit and suggestions for simple experiments.

         Next I will visit each of the classrooms to see how well the teachers perform with their three year olds and to answer questions.

          I did a similar program at CentraNia a bilingual pre-K center."

 Harold garners some two-dimensional approval at the Sunshine Early Learning Center.  

Be There on March 6

Let’s Celebrate!

ReSET celebrates its 25th anniversary at the Hart Senate Office Building on March 6th, 2013, between 5:00 and 7:00 pm, with presentations by renowned AIDS/HIV scientist Dr. Anthony Fauci and groundbreaking astronomer Nancy Grace Roman. ReSET volunteers and students will be on hand to demonstrate some of their experiments and hands-on science activities. The event is open to volunteers, educators, philanthropic organizations, and the media.

Founded by author and educator Dr. Harold I. Sharlin, the ReSET program partners professional scientists and engineers with teachers to help children develop a passion and aptitude for science and math. The goal is to provide children with engaging, interactive experiences with Science-Technology-Engineering-Math (STEM) subjects, to improve the quality of science and math education in the U.S., and to address current deficits in STEM academic achievement and professions. It is estimated that this pioneering program has reached more than 10,000 students with hands-on science programs since it was founded in 1988.

There were seven volunteers in ReSET’s first year of operation, serving mostly inner city schools. Those first ReSET sessions convinced Sharlin that the most effective and meaningful way of teaching children science was through simple, relatable, inquiry-based experiments that got students actively involved.

Since 1988, more than 300 volunteers have participated in the program. Today, ReSET has 95 volunteers, active in nearly 30 schools, representing more than 20 different STEM professions—from neuroscience to forensic anthropology to mechanical engineering. In the last few years, ReSET has broadened its service offerings to include Pre-Kindergarten children, charter schools, DC Public STEM Catalyst Schools, Saturday sessions, and after-school programs.

The Catalogue for Philanthropy formally recognized ReSET’s contribution to the DC area by selecting the organization for inclusion in its 2012/13 Catalogue. A panel of more than 100 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer nonprofit organizations chose ReSET as one of 74 outstanding nonprofits to be featured this year.

Chancellor Kaya Henderson wrote a letter of endorsement on behalf of the DC Public School System (DCPS), praising ReSET for its service and commitment to DC metro area schools. She wrote: “We hope that our partnership will continue for many years to come, and that many DC students will start their pathway toward careers in science and engineering with a ReSET volunteer in their classroom.”

Event Location:

902 Hart Senate Office Building

Constitution Avenue and 2nd Street, NE 

Union Station Metro (parking available at Union Station)

(Take the North Elevators to the 9^th floor)

Join us in recognizing this important milestone. Please RSVP by February 21 by emailing reset@resetonline.org or by calling John Meagher at 703-250-0236.

ReSET'ers and Students on NBC

Peter Mehrevari passed this along; it includes NBC News video of him and other ReSET Volunteers (including Christyann Pulliam)  in the classroom at Whittier Education Campus in DC (in Thumbnail 11: What is Innovation?")

Hi John,

Just wanted to let you know that today is the official launch of NBC’s series of innovation in the US and our ReSET team has a few clips of our bridge building experiment that I thought you’d enjoy seeing.  We’re shown in the last episode titled “What is Innovation” and have a short clip near the beginning and a longer one at the end.  The video can be found at: http://www.nbclearn.com/innovation/

ReSET Volunteer Ed Rock in Action

The ‘Ewwww’ Factor Gets Kids Involved

 

No, they’re not doing the fox trot! ReSET volunteer Ed Rock demonstrates the size of a whale vertebra.

ReSET volunteer Ed Rock will tell you that owl pellets can be a bit off-putting to your average 10-year-old. But once they get past the general “ickiness,” they are rapt with attention. Rock, who works full-time at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), has been volunteering with the Virginia Gardens and Greenbrier after school programs. Last spring, Rock did an experiment at Greenbrier where the class examined a number of variables involved in seed (radish) germination and plant growth (light, water, and nutrients). “The students came up with ideas for some of the things they wanted to look at,” says Rock. “And I helped them to see it in the context of an experiment with control groups. The owl pellet activity was done because some of the students had expressed an interest in animals and anatomy. We used the owl pellets to discuss food webs, digestive processes, skeletons, and scale and size (for example, we looked at the size of vertebra in whales through voles—the typical skeletal remains you see in owl pellets).”

         Rock reflects the impressive commitment and creativity of ReSET volunteers. He typically takes a half day off to do his volunteer work, and he is always looking for new ideas to try out with the children.

            Rock says his students quickly get over their initial squeamishness. “We did a similar exercise in Virginia Gardens using fish (fish printing and dissection). A few students were standoffish at first, but as the activity wore on they moved in closer, and by the end of the session they were diving in and actively participating. Natural student curiosity and the wonders of the natural world can overcome so much inhibition in a group of students.”

Watch Ed on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-1gpKGIPpY&list=UUqWFnBnLMVhnOzFiGkUk5aw&index=9&feature=plcp

Some Feedback on ReSET

From Principal Michael Cunningham of Columbia Elementary, a new ReSET school in Annandale, VA:

I also want to let you know that I discussed the work you all do at our pyramid principal meeting last week and some of my colleagues are interested in learning more about the program.  I sat in on the session with Dianne Post and was amazed with the level of thinking and engagement the students had in the concept of “waves”!  It was exceptional!  If you don’t mind, I will pass your contact information and website on to two of my colleagues…currently North Springfield and Poe are interested in looking at the program.

 From Volunteer Cheryl Banks:

This past week I have decided to sell my condo, and I will be leaving the Maryland area. I am reluctant to begin the school year with the children, and have to leave them within a short time. I was very attached to the children and Mrs. Bradley and enjoyed the program immensely. I am indebted to ReSET for the wonderful experience of teaching the children. I am thinking of relocating to the NJ area. If ReSET is ever expanded to that state I would love to continue the program. It is with a heavy heart that I bid you farewell. I hope the program has continued success. Thank you for the experience of touching the lives of those special children, and an awesome teacher as Mrs. Bradley

Thanks Cheryl, we'll miss you!

Exploding Molecules (and Stereotypes)

 We’ve become accustomed to assuming boys do better in science and math, while girls dominate in language and history. But it’s high time these stereotypes became a thing of the past. In Google’s first annual science competition in 2011, all three of the finalists were girls, and they beat out 10,000 other students from 90 countries, demonstrating both female and U.S. prominence in science. One winner discovered a way to make ovarian cancer treatments more effective. Another wants to revise the Clean Air Act using her model, quantifying air pollution among asthmatics. And the third winning project could lead to a barbeque meat marinade that reduces carcinogens.

Girls ruled again in 2012, with Brittany Wenger, a 17-year-old from Lakewood Ranch, FL taking home the grand prize for creating a Global Neural Network Cloud Service for Breast Cancer Detection. Across the country science-loving girls are doing amazing things, and not just in competitions. In February, Clara Lazen, a 10-year-old from Kansas City, MO, accidentally discovered a potentially explosive molecule in her fifth-grade science class. Clara’s assignment was to build a molecule using a modeling kit with colorful balls and plastic connectors. Clara randomly pieced together a combination of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon atoms to create a molecule her chemistry teacher, Kenneth Boehr, had never seen before. “I just saw that these go together more,” Clara told a Fox News local affiliate in Kansas City. “Like they fit more together. And they look better. And all the holes have to be filled in for it to be stable.”  

        

More on Clara’s discovery.

http://www.care2.com/causes/10-year-old-girl-discovers-new-molecule-in-science-class.html

More on ReSET’s work to further science career interest in girls. See July 2012 ReSET Report.

http://resetonline.org/reset-media/newsletter-archives

From the archives of ReSET volunteer and raconteur David McInnis

This week…  microscopes!

ReSET has a handful of well-made student microscopes, called “My First Lab Microscope Ultimate” (MFL-85)  by NYscopes.com and look similar to this: 

They are rechargeable, though the batteries on half of them have died (I don’t know how old these are and suspect they were stored without being charged).  They can still be lit with the AC adapter.  Currently they run a about $120 each.   The optics, for this price range, are excellent as is the general build quality.  The base, turret, stage, and eyepiece tube are all metal.  The intensity of the white LED  can be varied.  There is only a coarse focus, which is fine (pun) for this level of use.  The objective lenses are parafocal, or very nearly so.  The stage is translationally fixed.  It’s very nice for the money.
Anyway…

The real point of this lesson is to introduce the students to making careful observations.

We talked about parts of the microscope and went over how we would use them, before passing them out.  We also talked about how we would take turns, a serious concern with only 4 scopes and 20 students. I then explained magnification and gave some examples.

There was often trouble in trying to focus, sometimes the turret would be set between lenses, sometimes the light wasn’t on, sometimes the student would say that theirs was in focus but upon checking there would be nothing but a blur.  Odd that they were just as excited with the blur, I’m sure this should tell me something.   The rest of the class was spent looking and sketching, with Ms. Haynes and myself running around helping and settling disputes about whose turn it was.

Specimens:  I brought pond water, getting lots of really dirty gunk, baker’s yeast that I had started that morning (a tiny amount of dry yeast, a pinch of sugar, in about 1 oz of water), a flower, a leaf, a bug found on the front of my car, and a collection of bought prepared slides.

The prepared slides, the yeast, and the bug were great.  The pond water took too much care for 3rd grade.  Sketching went great too.  We were sure to label them with basic data; specimen, date, observer’s name, etc.   Trying to label the magnification used was too much.   Also, it was carefully explained that they should draw exactly what they see.

I wish I had removed the highest power objective lens from each scope.  We avoided crashing into slides pretty well, but the additional, difficult to focus (for them) lens was distracting.  With a 10x eyepiece having just a 4x and a 10x objective would have been plenty.  The scope did come with a usb camera eyepiece, but I really wanted the students to have ‘real’ experience, rather than something semi-virtual.  The camera, as is expected, is basic; 640×480, high noise.  The refresh rate isn’t too bad, focusing is tolerable.  I don’t know what magnification is on the camera-piece.  I had some issues with the included software and usedMicam instead.  Here is a sample of a “mouth smear” prepared slide using the 10x objective:Again, it ain’t research grade, but it’s pretty amazing for the money.

I have wondered if a cheap ‘pocket microscope’ would be better at this grade level.  I have bought a couple of all plastic (including the lenese) 60-100x scopes that cost around 7 dollars (yes, seven) and believe they would be ok.  A slightly better scope of the same ‘pocket’ design but with glass lenses would be great.   For fourth graders it would probably depend on the class, but by 5th grade the microscope we used would be the way to go.  Of course if you are helping just 1 or 2 students then it would be good for any grade.