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Hands-on science class brings in the bugs Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Jefferson Elementary School fourth-graders, from left, Taylor Coulter, Lynsey Burkett and C.J. Fort, observe the activities of a pill bug in a petri dish as a part of a special traveling science class offered by Ashland Middle School Scientific Institute. Program gives area teachers training as students learn By Tony Boom "Grandpa says they eat plants in the garden," said Sean Tipton, a fourth-grader at Jefferson Elementary School. "How can they survive under big rocks?" asked Mike Paxton, his classmate. The 9-year-olds were discussing the characteristics of some pill bugs they had just observed � and handled � during a special traveling science class on Monday presented by the Ashland Middle School Science Institute. Grant created new institute ASHLAND � A $100,000 grant from Ashland residents Jon and Sharon Javna to the Ashland Schools Foundation created the Ashland Middle School Science Institute (AMSSI). The institute offers hands-on exhibits at the school and provides traveling science inquiry classes to area elementary schools. The funds will allow the institute to operate for two years. "Taking science inquiry into school demonstrates to kids how much fun science can be," said Jon Javna. "It�s a good head start in getting them to think scientifically." AMSSI will be closed during December while new features � including a chemistry lab � are added to the exhibits. The institute offers the weeklong program to help schools fulfill state benchmarks in science inquiry for elementary school students. A grant awarded to the Jackson Education Service District will help fund the sessions for 20 schools in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties. The program is as much about teacher training as it is about student education, says 28-year-old Justin Adams, the leader of Monday�s session. In his white lab coat, Adams was teaching three fourth-grade classes about scientific method and observation. By the end of the week, the classes� teachers should be able to develop similar approaches to science education. They will also receive curriculum guides and learn how to evaluate student efforts for the state-required scientific inquiry work samples. "It�s a unique approach to teacher development. Usually you sit down with a classroom of (other) teachers," said Adams. But at AMSSI, organizers asked, "Why not do a program with teachers and kids? Why pull them out of the classroom? The kids get a benefit too," he added. Adams says he�s a scientist, not a teacher. The Ashland High graduate has a master�s degree in ecology from the University of California at Davis. But working with students is his favorite thing to do. "I wouldn�t make a good biologist because I don�t like animals more than people," Adams said. Monday�s class offered his students a chance to observe the pill bugs in various environments. Adams asked them to note how the bugs reacted to a piece of wood, a dark area, a light area, a wet place, a dry location and different surface textures. Adams then recorded student observations on an overhead. He introduced them to the notion of a hypothesis. Few had heard the word. But Adams� analogy of a TV remote that didn�t turn on the set � and how to fix it � led the students to develop the notion of scientific inquiry. Today�s classes will take a more focused scientific approach in looking at whether the bugs prefer to live in wood. Later in the week, the classes will use flat worms to develop all steps of a scientific experiment. By week�s end, students will have completed a scientific inquiry work sample for their portfolios. "Before . . . we didn�t have evenness (in science education)," said Pamela Jones, Jefferson principal. She hopes the AMSSI sessions will change that assessment. Jefferson fifth-grade classes will have the same training in January. During one presentation, Adams asked, "What do scientists do?" One student said they wear white coats. Adams� own answer: "They are somebody who plays with stuff." SOU offers variety of science for kids Snow cave building, camping expeditions and a "Bolts and Jolts" class on electricity are just a few of the science classes available to elementary and middle school students through Southern Oregon University�s Extended Campus Programs. "We expose kids to different possibilities of hands-on science," said Carol Jensen, director of youth programs. " We try to get kids on campus to think about higher education and science." SOU offers several formats. There are three-hour hands-on workshops, assembly presentations and two-hour team discovery classes. Weeklong summer science camps are offered both in Medford and Ashland. For more information on youth classes, call 552-6331. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.