SMART Center Team Helps Teachers Bring Science to Life in Oakland Classrooms
Science education is a collaborative discipline, a “team sport” with classroom teachers, district specialists, and community organizations banding together to bring great science learning experiences to students. One of the best examples of this team approach is in Oakland, where an amazing team of educators provides support, coaching, and kit replenishment in order to promote science teaching and learning.
February 2015
Each of the five team members of OUSD’s SMART Center — Sonnie Day, Duffy Ross, Laura Prival, Rosita Young, and manager Claudio Vargas — developed a passion for science through explorations of the natural world during their own early learning years. From chemistry sets to nature walks, toy cars to water sampling projects, these educators discovered ways to nurture their curiosity. Now they devote their time to ensuring today’s young students experience the same opportunities.
These five educators are tasked with supporting science lead teachers at each of the 54 elementary schools in the district, coordinating the stocking, distributing and rotating thousands FOSS kits for all the schools, and managing the ordering and delivery of live organisms to the schools. They also provide in depth support and professional development, and share their work beyond the district by presenting at state and national science education conferences!
In explaining why the team is so passionate about the importance of science education in elementary classrooms, they indicated they “view our work through an equity lens. We are committed to interrupting the cycles of inequities in public education.”
Duffy summed up the sentiments of the team this way: “I work in the sciences because I believe it is a powerful strategy to hook and engage young people in school, especially those who may struggle with traditional academics. The hands-on nature of science combined with the innate curiosity of youth make science a friend to students. And it promotes critical thinking – an essential part of our democracy.”
We are honored to partner in their work supporting great science teaching and learning in Oakland. The team recently took time to respond to some questions from CRS, and we are pleased to share their responses with you.
| CRS: How did early learning experiences contribute to you developing a love of science? | |
| Rosita – I remember my chemistry set I got for my birthday when I was around 9 or 10 years old with test tubes, clamps, graduated cylinders and lots of colorful powders. Mixing things up and seeing what would happen was my favorite past time for the following year. | |
| Sonnie – I was really into genetics and remember exposing fruit fly to ultraviolet light to cause gene mutations for my science fair project. | |
| Laura – Taking students outdoors is always a highlight for me. Everything from a walk around the block to check on storm drains to a multi-day adventure along the coast are filled with deep learning opportunities and tons of student engagement. | |
| Claudio – I fondly remember activities related to motion vs. time that helped me understand Newtonian physics. The teacher used little cars that accelerated and threw balls into the air, which then landed back into the car. This helped us learn about inertia and momentum. | |
| Duffy – Taking an elective marine biology class in middle school was one of the bright spots in my education: a passionate teacher, the chance to go out on a boat with the Marine Science Institute to haul in bay fish, take water quality samples at depth. | |
CRS: Most memorable classroom science experiences?
Rosita: In middle school, we got to work in a real science lab with Bunsen burners and test tube stands, microscopes, and the periodic table on the wall. We were studying gases produced through combustion. The whole class worked in a small lab with little ventilation. Guess what happened next? I heard a loud thud. I turned and saw my lab partner on the floor, apparently having passed out from the copious amount of carbon dioxide produced in the lab! Not funny, but memorable.
Sonnie: I taught 5th grade for 7 years before joining the SMART Center two years ago. I loved letting students follow their interest at a deeper level of knowledge and then showcasing this learning for all to see. My hardest classroom experience happened when I put butter in the fridge making it extra cold and hot water in an insulated container that kept it mildly warm for a demo lesson about metals conducting heat. Needless to say, there was not much heat to be conducted or butter melting to be observed and the students in this class were not impressed or very engaged. It might have also been the funniest classroom science experience based upon the song-and-dance routine I had to do to try to keep students’ attention.
Laura: I taught for 10 years in the classroom, and have been a coach/science specialist for 5 years.One of the best parts of teaching science for me is the way that learning through hands-on investigation can spark the interest and success of students who tend to not participate as much in other areas of school.
Claudio: I’ve been teaching and learning in OUSD for 20 years. As a teacher working with kindergarteners, I always loved their curiosity and enthusiasm. It is so critical to nurture this way of being and interacting with the world. The structures of school tend to suppress the natural tendency of young people to know, to find out, to ask why? One of my most difficult classroom experiences as a student was chemistry. The teacher spent most of the time talking about chemical bonds and reactions and we never had a hands-on experience. It was very boring and I never learned much from that experience. It took me becoming a teacher need to teach chemistry to learn the beauty of this science.
Duffy: I have been in teaching and leadership in science for 16 years. I never had formal “science class” in elementary school. Some science was incorporated into art projects or field trips but hands-on investigations were completely missing. The concept of a science notebook was even more remote of an idea. I feel privileged to support a more developed and authentic approach to the teaching and learning of science in 2014 and am proud that it’s happening right here in Oakland.
CRS: Favorite science-related past-times now?
Rosita: Some science related hobbies: searching for wildlife in my travels, tidepooling, gardening, cooking, stargazing. (What is NOT science related?!)
Sonnie: My family and I are geeks who love to follow science news, such as the latest astronomical event or the isolation of the God particle (Higgs Boson)
Laura: Watching the Moon phases throughout the month is something I love to do with my young daughter. She always notices when it’s up in the sky.
Claudio: The Egg in the bottle, candle and jar, heat capacity and burning balloons, etc. I am always looking for discrepant event to use in workshops, and love to test them beforehand with my family.
Duffy: I am teaching my daughters to be naturalists. When my daughter was 4, we walked around the block with clipboards once a month and photographed/recorded the names all the flowers in bloom. (When we didn’t know them, we gave them our own name and looked it up later.) March and April were the highest blooming months in our neighborhood, with 94 different flowers in bloom in one square block!
Check out Oakland’s Science webpage to see how the district supports science in the schools.