Berkeley Go Science Kits
Getting creative to enable “Hands On” science during distance learning
Community Resources for Science and Bayer team up to reach all 4th and 5th graders in Berkeley
Studies show that engagement in science learning in 4th and 5th grades is critical to long-term educational outcomes in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). That’s why Community Resources for Science (CRS), a Berkeley-based group that supports elementary and middle school science teaching, teamed up with Bayer’s Berkeley-based biotech operations to provide thousands of elementary students in the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) with science learning tools. Fourth and fifth graders across the district are receiving colorful bags of supplies to support hands-on science lessons at home. Interactive lessons have been a challenge across the state since distance learning protocols went into place to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“When school doors closed in March due to COVID-19, for many students across the state, science learning simply came to a halt. The first priority was to get kids access to computers and internet so they could participate in home lessons. Now our next big hurdle is addressing equitable access to materials in kids’ homes.” – said CRS Executive Director Teresa Barnett.
Without these materials, active science learning may be all but impossible since teachers cannot guarantee that every student has access to key supplies. “Teachers don’t want to assign a lesson that only some of the students can take part in, so having equal access to basic supplies is critical,” Barnett added.
Meeting the Need
To respond to the challenge CRS collaborated with Bayer to ensure that nearly 1,400 fourth and fifth graders from the district’s 11 elementary schools receive kits with the items that teachers identified as vital. Volunteers from the Berkeley Public Schools Fund Ed Hub and UC Berkeley safely assembled the tool kits to include a science notebook, hand lens, measuring tape, pipettes, clothes pins, colored pencils and sharpeners, and more. Bayer funding is also providing every kindergarten through third grade student (more than 2,600 children) with their own science notebook, where young students can write, draw, collect data, sketch and record their science ideas and observations. Materials are being delivered to each of 11 the schools, which are handling distribution to families.
“These supplies will definitely enhance my students’ learning experience during this time of distance learning, and provide equity for all to have access to the same materials we can use for experiments and active learning,” says BUSD elementary science specialist Lynda Hampton. She adds students really miss being together in school, and getting these materials helped bring excitement and a sense of normalcy, “just like passing around supplies in the classroom.”
Upon receiving their materials, her Emerson Elementary students responded enthusiastically. One said, “It’s comforting to know that I have the supplies at home and I don’t have to rush around the house looking for things.” Others said the materials will “help us with being a scientist” and be “more ready to do science-y stuff.”
They may be young but the students understand how the learning they do today connects with the opportunities they will have in the future. Said one young learner: “I appreciate that I have the items to help me get a role in science in the future.”
Partnership with Bayer
Bayer is an active supporter of strong science education in the Berkeley and East Bay schools through programs with CRS and other local non-profits. “When we learned how the lack of equal access to materials was hampering efforts to teach science, we wanted to help,” said Jennifer Cogley, Bayer’s lead for Community Relations. “We know how important it is for kids to receive science education in their early years – it can pave the way for life-long appreciation, and even a career, in the sciences.”
“Bayer jumped in and offered to sponsor materials in a big way,” added Barnett. “They wanted to reach the whole district, and as a result every BUSD K-5 student will benefit.”
CRS is working with the potential funders in other East Bay communities to sponsor similar kits for schools where their operations are based. While they are focused first on serving schools with students of color, they are interested in working with businesses to support as many schools as possible. To learn more, go to (www.crscience.org/getinvolved/gosciencekits/) or contact Teresa Barnett at community@crscience.org.
About Community Resources for Science (www.crscience.org)
Community Resources for Science has been providing support for science teaching in Berkeley and other East Bay schools since 1997. In addition to information, online resources, training, and planning support, CRS engages scientists from UC Berkeley and local businesses like Bayer to bring scientists into the classroom (now, the virtual classroom through Zoom!). These scientists directly lead children in standards-aligned lessons that explore the phenomena of daily life, introduce exciting STEM careers, and give children opportunities to wonder, explore and discover about their world.
About Bayer (www.bayer.com/berkeley)
Bayer is a world-class innovation company improving the health of humans, animals and plants. Bayer is contributing to finding solutions to some of the major challenges of our time. At its 46-acre campus in West Berkeley, Bayer’s 1,000 employees develop and manufacture advanced specialty medicines for rare diseases and complex medical conditions.
About the Berkeley Public Schools Fund
Through their Ed Hub, the Berkeley Public Schools Fund was essential in coordinating a safe, socially distant assembly line to put the materials together in kits and arranged for distribution to each of the school sites. Volunteers from the Schools Fund, as well as CRS graduate student volunteers from UC Berkeley, put the kits together.