Expert Guest Speakers in Science Class by Ms. Lerenman

In science class, it is of the utmost importance that students are provided opportunities to interact with experts in the field of science. A knowledgeable teachers is sometimes not enough when kids want to get really in-depth with a topic.

The above pictures display the following expert guest speakers:

• Ms. Diane Yabut, biomedical engineer and patent examiner for heart defect devices. Ms. Yabut helped teach the the class about the heart deffect Atrial Septal Defect, or ASD. Students had the opportunity to learn about the causes and effects of cardiovascular dysfunctions such as ASD. They also got to build model clamshell occluders, the devices that Ms. Yabut helps to examine at her job. Students now know how doctors treat such problems with a virtually non-invasive, non-open heart surgery.

• Mr. George Hughes-Strange, a medical student and former Teach For America corps member, came to our 7th grade class to teach students about the endocrine system dysfunction, diabetes. He modeled the disease by explaining the human body in terms of a hotel and had students physically demonstrate the process of insulin production or lack there of.
  

Field Trips by Ms. Lerenman

Students thrive when they are endowed with opportunities to build their social and cultural capital for life. These experiences will serve them well when they interview for high schools and colleges.

The pictures above show field trips to:

• The National Museum of Health and Medicine as a culmination of our Human Body Systems unit. Students got to explore various body systems while completing a field trip guide. Students also got to do forensic science inquiries by discovering who the diseased soldier was using medical anthropology, DNA, and other forensic evidence.
  

• Williamsburg and Jamestown as a reward trip for the 7th graders that showed the best academic performance and social habits. Students worked on a Social Studies project with the help of chaperons. In Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, students got to experience how the colonists, slaves, and Native Americans lived during those times.
  

• The Koshland Museum for a filming of an EPA segment for "Greenscene," an environmentalist podcast that comes out every couple of weeks on the EPA website. Students got to meet the foremost expert on acid rain and were filmed doing an experiment where they measured the levels of acidity and Ph balances of various fruits, beverages, and household items to simulate the work that the EPA does when it meausures rain acidity. Students will get to watch themselves online soon!
  

Science Labs by Ms. Lerenman

Nothing makes science come alive like labs, model-making, and experiments. KEY 7th graders partake in various labs above, with their weekly volunteers Mr. Stern and Ms. Strickland. Mr. Stern and Ms. Strickland love seeing students really be able to get it and apply their knowledge through these hands on activities. The volunteers are amazed with the level of cooperation and caring that students show to one another, making sure that each person in the group gets a chance to participate and engage. The volunteers lend an aspect of social capital but they also get to be impressed with the level of cultural capital that the students have acquired from their various field trips and higher-order thinking classes.

Pictured above: 7th graders working on frog dissections and surface-area-to-volume and mass labs.

Hands On Learning by Ms. Lerenman

As a teacher, I truly value hands on learning and building social and cultural capital through community partnerships and field trips to get out into the real world and apply our knowledge there.

Here are some of the hands on learning that the publishers have gotten to engage in with various community agencies that have come to Publishing class to empower young minds to build and create blogs, create literary magazines, and do creative writing and art.

Pictures above:

Students work on their mixed-media artistic representations of community problems with Ms. Martin and Ms. Lee from RiseUp.

Students also learn how to create blogs once a week for a month with Anna, Annie, and Connor in the pictures above. We continue to work on this blog because it helps use express our thoughts about the world around us and lets us be e-journalists.