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Stimulating 5th grade science students' interests through engaging hands‐on inquiry‐based lessons (618.37)
Author(s) -
Booth Rachell,
Banta Marilyn,
Woodard Addie,
Brown Susan,
Matias Cindy,
Maeder Corina
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.618.37
Subject(s) - enthusiasm , mathematics education , test (biology) , science education , reading (process) , psychology , medical education , pedagogy , political science , medicine , ecology , social psychology , law , biology
Students in the 5th grade at Hernandez Elementary School in the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District (SMCISD) engaged in inquiry based hands‐on activities with their teachers led by faculty and students from the College of Science and Engineering at Texas State University. Two distinct events were used to increase the excitement for and conceptual understanding of concepts required for the 5th grade STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) test. First, fifty‐seven fifth‐grade students, four teachers, and four parents from Hernandez Elementary School attended a STEM field trip at Texas State University. Students rotated through a series of hands‐on activities, tours and demos spanning across chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science departments. Assessment of the field trip suggested that enthusiasm for science increased. Second, inquiry‐based activities were brought to the elementary school in a two‐week “science camp” in the spring. Junior level biochemistry students led the activities, which covered a range of concepts, including landforms, properties of water, and the food chain. Impact of the hands‐on experiments was assessed by monitoring the 5th grade STAAR test results. The findings indicated that the 5th grade students had performed better in not only science, but also reading and math. Grant Funding Source : Supported by ASBMB HOPES Grant