Science Super Star: Lorraine Gray
We spotlight Lorraine Gray, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at Collins Elementary in West Contra Costa. Lorraine wants other teachers to know that teaching science does not have to be complex, highlighting this through a simple experiment on paper materials that produced great results from her students.
April 17, 2020
We are thrilled to recognize Lorraine Gray, a Kindergarten Teacher at Collins Elementary in West Contra Costa, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
Lorraine wants other teachers to know that science does not have to be complex. Just introducing the topic in whatever hands-on way possible, will have a tremendous effect on students:
| “Teachers should go to training sessions or watch videos online for simple experiments that they can do in their classrooms using common items they might already have.” |
Where does paper come from? Is it all the same? Lorraine had her young students explore the properties of different paper products, from cardboard and construction, tissue and paper towels, to newspaper and wax paper.
Many of them had heard paper came from trees. But other than the paper the use to write and draw on, they could not think of other types.
Together, Lorraine and her students came up with criteria to categorize the new paper materials with.
What is easy to fold? What can I write on? Which would be helpful to absorb water with?
After handing her students samples of papers, water, and some markers, she immediately heard a wide array of different reactions to the experiment.
“Wow, the water just rolls off this paper” “It ripped when it got wet!” “The marker went right through the paper and onto my desk. Oops!” “Do not put the dollar in the water, it will get ruined!” and “I could fold it eight times!”
As they determined the properties of each kind of paper, Lorraine’s students would tally in their notebooks. Many were surprised by these new materials, especially wax paper. They were shocked to see that it was both water and marker resistant. Others were amazed that water would not ruin the dollar bill, as they discovered it is not made out of paper at all.
Lorriane used disagreements about conclusions regarding “foldability” criteria as an opportunity to teach about the concept of a fair test (or, controlling variables). Some said certain papers were easy to fold, and others held the stance that they were 
too difficult. Lorraine asked the students to think about how the many different ways that different students were attempting to fold their papers might have impacted their results. She asked them to think of how they could address the consistency in folding problem in order to get some clear data.
One student asked if they could fold airplanes instead of folding the papers in half or in bits. By making this “real” thing, a lot of the consistency problems were erased! When they were able to come to conclusions, they had a class-discussion, and shared their notebooks with their peers. They even applied what they learned to their school life, claiming that they now know they cannot get their homework wet, or it will be ruined.
Lorraine encouraged science year-round with other experiments on animal and plant habitats, and how to dissolve candies in different temperatures. She is an avid supporter of elementary science, encouraging her colleagues to “jump in” and discover how engaging it can be for all types of learners.
| “One of my students struggles to write anything down. My student gets to show his strengths when he is doing hands-on activities. He can show me what he knows. He often does the experiment and then figures out something else he can test with the same materials. He loves to build things.” |