We spotlight Abdul Bassa, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at New Highland Academy in Oakland.
April 5, 2020
We are thrilled to recognize Abdul Bassa, 5th Grade Teacher at New Highland Academy in Oakland, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
Abdul led his students through explorations of the world around them, creating lessons that would be relatable, and subsequently engaging, for all his students.
"A student who has low self-confidence drew connections between one lesson and the rain & wind outside."
Creating relvant science lessons does not have to take up a multitude of complicated materials. When teaching a unit on the earth and sun, he had his students track the length of their shadows over the course of a day. The only thing needed was a piece of chalk. Through conversations that reasoned why shadows would be different sizes, and individual notebook taking, students were able to explain their understanding in an assessment by the end of the unit.
Science lessons were an excellent tool for Abdul to incoporate a full-on engaging learning environment. Students were able to strengthen their computational thinking by comparing and contrasting different methods of combating climate change by studying infographics. He also incorporates language arts by having his students decode new academic and scientific words by discussing context and roots to build vocabulary.
Abdul is straightforward and sincere when providing helpful hints to other teachers who may be considering teaching science"
"Encourage students to ask questions and be open to anything."