We spotlight Caroline Aszklar, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at Chabot Elementary in Oakland. Caroline led her students on an all-encompassing journey of learning as they studied the solubility and saturation of different types of salt.
May 5, 2020
We are honored to name Caroline Aszklar, 5th Grade Teacher at Chabot Elementary in Oakland, as a 2020 Science Super Star honoree!
Caroline led her students on an all-encompassing journey of learning as they studied the solubility and saturation of different types of salt. Her science lesson's takeaway is one her students can carry into their daily lives.
| "Comparing epsom and kosher salts saturation levels helped them understand the concept of looking past physical features to determine capabilities and traits of different items. Although they may appear similar, they have different properties." |
She initiated a class discussion by allowing her students to share what they know about various types of salts and their characteristics. The class landed on a focus question that concentrated on the two salts they were most familiar with: kosher and epsom. They designed an experiment to find out if the salts saturate at the same rate.
Students made predictions of the outcome. Some students referenced past experiments, or made educated guesses based on the characteristics they recognized from each salt type, to bolster their reasoning.
Throughout the experiment, Caroline encouraged them to draw sketches of the process, along with detailed notes. Each table group kept a chart of their results.
Caroline wanted her students claims to be well-reasoned, so she had them reference not only their experiment, but notebook observations, class-discussions, and information from their textbooks. She recognizes that being able to cite various materials is vital to supporting ones ideas.
Whenever she assigns a reading, she asks her class to summarize, and answer short questions on, what they read, to help them synthesize scientific and academic words into their vocabulary. She continues this cross-subject learning experience by having them take averages and graph their results, to help solidify what they had learned in math.
Caroline advocates science as a way to utilize different teaching methods that emphasize various skills. This allows students who may not be able to express their knowledge in traditional ways, to demonstrate their capabilities.
| "Student "B" has great difficulty expressing himself verbally and written. Being able to mix the verbal with the written and the hands-on has made all the difference in allowing him to "show what he knows!" |