When Charlene Shea and Sarah Whitley lead Gaiser Middle School students down a path to the school’s watershed, they are paving the way to a better appreciation of the world of science. That’s because these science lessons are based on the real-world application of observation and research. It’s hands-on and minds-on science.
Shea is a science teacher at Gaiser; Whitley is a graduate student at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV). Their teamwork is possible through a five-year, $2.7 million GK-12 grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Program improves graduate students’ skills while enriching learning for K-12 students and fostering partnerships between school districts and universities.
WSUV’s grant pairs middle school teachers with environmental science graduate students. Shea has been in the program three years. Teachers at Alki and Jason Lee entered the program this year. For 10 hours each week the teachers and the scientists work with students on hands-on, inquiry-based research on the Columbia River Watershed.
“The graduate student looks at the classroom curriculum and helps to infuse it with real science research,” said Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, GK-12 project director. “We teach students how to ask good questions, then get them to support their observations with research.”
The middle school students research water quality in their own backyard—the school’s watershed. Through research, students develop a deeper understanding of science content in the context of real-world questions about their environment.
For Gaiser students, the world is “Gaiser Pond.” Named by the students, the pond is actually a stream that flows through the school grounds. The students have helped restore the area by replacing invasive plants with native species. The goal is to turn the area into a living lab, not only for science, but also for English and art classes.
“We are learning how to help our pond because it flows into Salmon Creek,” said seventh-grader Gavan Razevich. “We count all of the macro-invertebrates and record our findings.”
Shea says the program has changed science curriculum directly. “It’s 90 percent hands-on, and the more students do the more they retain. It’s what scientists do, answering real-world problems using evidence-based data.”
