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South Bay Accent - Aug/Sep 2014

One of the biggest symbols of this shift was scrapping a conventional science fair in favor of an ENGINEERING DESIGN FAIR. August/September 2014 61 LEFT TO RIGHT: CHRISTIE BARRESE; WERNER VAVKEN by the National Education Association. “If today’s students want to compete in this global society, however, they must also be proficient communicators, creators, critical thinkers and collaborators (the ‘Four Cs’).” This can sound touchy-feely, so educators are busy explaining why it’s anything but. “As we speak right now, somewhere in the South Bay a parent is complaining about a third-grade math curriculum,” says Olaf Jorgenson, head of Almaden Country School in San Jose. “It can be very frustrating for parents since their child is not being taught the way they were taught.” Jorgenson recently released the second edition of a book that he co-wrote called “Doing Good Science in Middle School: A Practical STEM Guide.” For Jorgenson, good science instruction is cross-disciplinary with teachers taking on what may at first seem like a more minimal but ultimately more crucial role. “We want to move children from learning about to figure it out,” Jorgenson says. “As kids we (today’s adults) used to read chapters in a science book, and teachers might have shared an experiment or two, given us a worksheet and we’d learn some terms.” Only partially in jest he terms the old approach: “sit, get, spit and forget.” SCIENCE FAIR REBOOT ACS educates children from preschool through middle school. “We’ve transitioned to an elementary science program that is completely hands on, no textbooks, and that uses inquiry-based challenges,” says Jorgenson. One of the biggest symbols of this shift was scrapping a conventional science fair in favor of an Engineering Design Fair. “Science fairs are traditionally a very solitary experience where a child chooses a problem (and) after a child works on it at home, perhaps with a parent’s help, presents it at school. That is not at all how science works,” Jorgenson says. Instead, ACS moved preparation for the fair into class time, kept parents out of the loop and gave kids all the same basic materials. Recently, fourth-graders were challenged to design an airlift delivery vehicle for flood victims that could keep rescue items dry and intact. In addition, the school has an extracurricular App VALLEY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS Gabe Davis, a student at Valley Christian Schools, inspects a NanoLab science experiment designed and built recently by VCHS students in their unique International Space Station Program. ALMADEN COUNTRY SCHOOL One of 30 entries in the Almaden Country School’s spring App Fair in April captures the attention and interest of young attendees.


South Bay Accent - Aug/Sep 2014
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