Physical science teacher Kenneth Mason wanted his 9th- and 10th-graders at Castlemont High School in Oakland to reach for the stars, but gravity soon brought him back to Earth.
"In my school last year, there were no supplies in the storeroom, and I couldn't afford to buy them. Our school and our district didn't have a lot of resources. But I decided not to use that as an excuse."
Mason, a member of the Oakland Education Association, took matters into his own hands and persuaded NASA to sponsor his students in the For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition. His students, who hail from the inner city, were soon on a first-name basis with NASA engineers and astronauts, who offered guidance in building a remote-controlled robot.
"Partnerships are important to teachers like me," says Mason.
Fifth-grader Yesenia Herrera looks for marine biology specimens at Coal Oil Point Preserve near Santa Barbara.
He's one of a growing number of teachers who are finding that they can offer more "hands-on" projects in science classrooms when they ask the community to lend a helping hand. Many strapped science teachers report that partnerships formed with businesses and government, as well as other schools and universities, have been extremely successful experiments.
While preparing for the robotics competition, Mason hooked his students up with a "mentor" team from Gunn High School in Palo Alto. "They came to our school twice and worked with my students throughout one whole weekend. They never would have dialogued with each other without the competition. Then my students went to Palo Alto to see how Gunn was doing, and they took us under their wing."
His class went to the regional competition in San Jose last April. "We did tremendously well for being a rookie team," says Mason with pride. "It was a tremendous accomplishment to go from just parts to a moving robot."
Because Mason's school is on a faultline, he was also able to arrange an alliance with science students at UC Berkeley. "Now, we're measuring the amount of radon gas being given off here. We have built curriculum around data collection, soil and seismic charts, and other things that will benefit Berkeley and our schools."
Physical science teacher Kenneth Mason and Oakland students Elena Ochoa and Yentl Rice proudly show off the robot their class built.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District also has partnering down to a science. The school district is allied with Los Marineros, a program started by the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in 1987, now managed by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
The Los Marineros program serves as the core science curriculum for the fifth-grade classes in the district. Educational activities focus on marine ecology, geology, policy and history. During each month of the school year, students measure and analyze physical and biological features of the ocean and coastline in a hands-on approach to learning.
"We are very, very lucky in Santa Barbara," says William Sylvester, a fifth-grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School. "This program gives kids a great science background."
The curriculum, written by teachers and museum staff, covers plants, animals, the environment, the island sanctuary and shipwrecks in the area. The museum pays for a whale-watching trip and a visit to the islands. Speakers visit classrooms to talk about whales, shipwrecks and tides. Teachers meet monthly at the museum to work on curriculum.
Santa Barbara fifth-graders Gillian Ayer (with arm outstretched) and Rhea Menegon question their teacher, William Sylvester (with camera), about the sea life they're observing on a field trip. Taking notes is Marion Spera (at right). At left are parent volunteer Leticia Diosdado and Los Marineros Naturalist Birkin Newell.
"The museum has organized cadres of parents, called pals, who are taught to do many activities in the curriculum, so teachers don't have to do everything," says Sylvester, a member of the Santa Barbara Teachers Association.
The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) serves as the "database manager" for the program. The center assists students in gathering data, and in analyzing and portraying the information. Plans are under way to augment the Los Marineros curriculum with computers and technology, with the assistance of NCEAS.
While such partnerships make things easier for teachers, it is really the kids who benefit the most. "They get so excited about science that they are jumping up and down," adds Sylvester.
"Kids need hands-on science, whether it's studying tide pools, dissecting a squid or doing field studies of animal population density. If you tell them about science, they might remember it. But if you let them do it themselves, they'll be involved and remember. You might not remember drawing parts of a squid, but you'll sure remember dissecting one."
