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Year 1998-1999
Helene Grant School
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Grade 3: Margaret Andrews
Ms. Andrews chose to contrast science and art in her unit, “Science Creations.” Noting that “Both artists and scientists have a great curiosity about the world around them,” her goal for her class was to allow them opportunities to integrate these two disciplines.
 “I wanted to be more creative about it, and more hands-on for them, as opposed to taking a couple pieces and then going into a specific area—to be more broad with them, so that they get a taste of a lot of things, and then hopefully spark their interest in some specifics… . It met my expectations, definitely; probably went beyond what I had thought. The things that I did with the Action Lab weren’t things I initially thought I would do as a part of teaching the unit on biodiversity at all. There was a sort of inspiration that came from seeing what was there… . Science is an easy one for teachers to say, I quit. Because kids lose interest, and then it becomes grueling to teach. But for me, I think one of the things I have found is that the kids leave [the Lab], and a couple days later it’s still coming up. A week later, what they saw is still part of the discussion, and they’re now beginning to look on the Internet, and choose books and activities that relate—for example, today, we got back to the room and they asked, “Can we go outside and pick up stuff to look at under the microscope?” The interest to do and continue to do those things is there.”
Following her year-long complimentary museum membership as a Peabody Fellow, Ms. Anderson found that she was as excited by science as her students.
“I never had a Peabody Membership. Two weeks ago, the renewal form came, and I sent it back the same day.”
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Grade 5: Shannon DeGrand and Eleanor Willis, Library Media Specialist
Ms. Willis deicded to bring her library expertise to the plant unit that she co-wrote with Ms. DeGrand, “Biodiversity in the Secret Garden,” incorporating science into the beloved novel by Frances Hobson Burnett. They were both pleased with their Lab experiences.
“You THINK you know what they like, but you see them differently in the Lab. You get a whole different perspective, see what draws them the most… . When we did the plant presses, I had 5 [or] 6 kids come in the next day and say they did it at home. Even today, they couldn’t wait to look go back to the room and check on the plants. They talked about where they should put them… . We could adapt the garden to almost any grade… . I was really surprised at how the kids really got into it.”
Both educators appreciated the additional personnel brought in through the Peabody Museum.
“You did a great job of getting volunteers… . The expertise—we had a horticulturist, purely by chance! He had expertise that I don’t have. He could talk to the kids directly… . It’s neat to have kids hear from someone who does this for a living… . A horticulturist? That’s a word they didn’t know. It becomes a very important piece, when you look at the future. We’re not teaching science just to teach it, there’s something there we want you to know, and in the future, we want you to have the option to choose it. It makes a big difference, it really does… . When I told my kids this was the last day for the lab, they said, ‘What do you mean?’…You’ve enriched our lives!”
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new photo needed (Degrand) |
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Shannon DeGrand's students examine rock dove study skin. |
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