Curriculum Up Close: Your Hall Pass Into Science

Mrs. Taylor - First Grade at Maddux Elementary 

Mrs. Taylor guided her first graders through an interactive lesson about force–a key concept for science class. After showing an introductory video, Mrs. Taylor led students through an activity simulating how construction crews knock buildings down safely without hitting surrounding buildings. First graders used a meter stick, string, cups and paper tents to understand how “push” and “pull” work. Working in small groups, they had to knock down their target building (cups) without hitting the houses (paper tents). 

These Mustangs demonstrated multiple Portrait of a Learner characteristics throughout this lesson. They worked as engaged collaborators, creative problem solvers and adaptable learners as they completed the activity in groups and with Mrs. Taylor to avoid knocking down the “houses” in their experiment. 

Mrs. Shields - Fifth Grade at Summit Elementary 

Fifth graders in Mrs. Shields' science class learned about the food chain. Through a puzzle activity, these Bees worked together to explore concepts about how different organisms and species obtain energy. 

At the start of the lesson, Mrs. Shields gave each student a card featuring one part of the food chain for a particular climate. When given the go-ahead, students had to identify other members in their climate and then piece together their food chain so that it accurately reflected where organisms obtain their energy and food. When everyone had completed their puzzle, students explained their reasoning using vocabulary from the lesson. They furthered their knowledge by reading a book as a class that helps explain and visualize the food chain. Then, they completed a corresponding worksheet to emphasize what they learned from the book. 

Mrs. Shields is developing strong critical thinkers, engaged collaborators and empathetic communicators–all of which are characteristics of FHSD’s Portrait of a Learner and were on full display in this lesson. 

Mrs. Polivka - Honors Physics at Turpin High School 

Mrs. Polivka led her Honors Physics students through an experiment testing how applied force and weight affects the travel time of an object. In this case, they used a student! The class took a “field trip” to the gym where student volunteers were rolled on a skateboard, holding onto a spring scale to measure the amount of force. The class worked together to mark the travel time at 5 meters, 10 meters and 15 meters when using different measurements of force. 

After the experiment in the gym, they debriefed their observations back in the classroom. Mrs. Polivka asked important questions to guide student understanding and provided time to complete the lab’s accompanying worksheet. Student observations during this experiment helped them understand key concepts in physics that they will be able to build upon throughout the school year. Critical thinking and engaged collaboration were crucial to the success of this lesson, and students excelled!

Ms. Burton - Medical Interventions at Turpin High School 

Medical Interventions class with Ms. Burton cooked up a fascinating bacteria lab for students to grow as critical thinkers. Students conducted a lab to determine the most effective antibiotics on two strands of bacteria. During a class prior to this one, they assembled Petri dish cultures containing one of two kinds of bacteria. For both dishes of bacteria, they placed six discs with different antibiotics, as well as one control disc, before sealing the Petri dishes and placing them in an incubator for 24- and 48-hour intervals. 

During class, students removed their Petri dish cultures for observation, recording what they saw with sketches and measurements. They also wrote down visual changes of note. Together, they answered questions in their lab worksheet to further their understanding of concepts. Ms. Burton walked around the room to answer questions and guide students through making important conclusions.