Ann Park: Likes the Buzz of Hands-on Science
April 8, 2020
We are honored to announce Ann Park as a 2020 Science Super Star!
This is her 8th time being awarded for her dedication to bringing meaningful science to her students’ lives.
Her top tip for other teachers teaching science? “If you’re wanting to look at science notebooks in a different way, try it through the lens of science and engineering practices. That can help the teacher and students to focus on certain practices that will enhance their learning and understanging, as well as help students use their science notebooks as a meaning-making tool.
Check out our full-feature spotlight on Ann from March 2014 below:
Ann Park is a 5th grade teacher at Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland. She has been teaching for 23 years, the first four of which were as a math specialist before delving into 19 years of classroom teaching.
As a young student, in elementary school, she recalls making a pinhole camera out of a cylindrical oatmeal container. And later on, in middle school, she remembers dissecting a flower in her science class. In high school, dissections continued, but it was with animals this time around, worms and frogs. “My group neglected to wet our paper towel enough for the worm,” she recalls, “…we couldn’t get a good look at it as a result.” Nowadays, in her classroom, she gives her students hands on experiences that they might remember when they look back on their elementary school years!
Her favorite classroom science experience is making a mystery substance by mixing several different substances. “The look on the students’ faces as they see what happens when they mix borax and water with glue and food coloring is priceless!” Ann points to the fact that it always leads to great discussion about the goo. Is it is a solid or a liquid?
“It’s very exciting to see how much buzz hands on science creates in the classroom. Students love it, and for many years it was hard to squeeze in the time to do what kids loved most because of district or school priorities in language arts and math—even though we all knew that hands-on science was so engaging. So it’s great that there is a push to get science back in the classroom, beyond the sporadic lesson here or there.”
All of the hands-on science is energizing for Ann and her students. “Hands-on science is great for getting students to explore, investigate, and practice academic language,” says Ann, “but it takes a lot of prep time—gathering materials and resources, etc.” She gets her students involved, “it helps to have 5th graders who can help get everything ready.”
Even with the students helping, and Ann preparing for lessons, there have always been some funny classroom moments, particularly when it comes to live organisms: “I don’t actually like to touch the live organisms. I like animals, but only at a distance! So I always had students pass out the isopods and beetles. They would always ask if I wanted to hold them, but I replied, ‘No, these are here for you guys. You should be the ones to touch them.’”