We spotlight Bethany Lourie, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at Jefferson Elementary in Berkeley. Bethany often utilizes mystery in her classroom, and observes as her students are able to come to conclusions about phenomena through their own experiences.
May 8, 2020
We are thrilled to name Bethany Lourie, Science Specialist at Jefferson Elementary in Berkeley, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
She taught 325 first to fifth graders this past year out of her science classroom.
Bethany often utilizes mystery in her classroom, and observes as her students are able to come to conclusions about phenomena through their own experiences. Even if her classroom does not come to the complete accurate explanation for a phenomena, they often get parts right. This allows for them to grasp at ‘true explanations’ in a way that will promote long-term understanding.
She promotes discussion often, and lets her students discuss theories/hypothesize after she presents a mystery to the class.
She utilized this paractice this past year while working with a chemistry lesson with her younger students, and a lesson on heat transfer with her fourth and fifth graders.