This year, students at Eastside Connections School who participate in the science, technology, engineering and math program will embark on explorations that reach from the depths of the sea to the solar system.
The chances for adventure draws many students to participate in the STEM program, said Eastside Connections principal Joe Racht.
“It is the hot ticket item,” Racht said. “I think it is evident through fact that it fills up in five minutes.”
This year, 110 children signed up for the program, the maximum that can participate due to the number of seats available for the field trips.
In addition to hands-on activities, students will get to take a variety of field trips, where they continue to explore STEM-related topics. Students occasionally spend their special time working on projects, and some of the activities are after school based.
On Friday, the program kicked off its third year at the school, as students in the third through eighth grade dissected dogfish sharks to learn about the
external and internal anatomy of the animal.
Inside the classroom, fourth graders who donned the STEM program T-shirt watched with intrigue as the environmental director with Casopolis’ Camp Friedenswald, Simeon Paulson, showed students how to cut into the sea creatures.
“I am all about hands on [experiences] that engage all the senses,” Paulson said. “When you have an experience like that, you actually value it.”
Opening up the pages of a textbook, students might see a colorful diagram displaying all the shark’s internal organs. As students would find out, things do not always look exactly like the inside of a textbook.
The shark dissection was the first of several projects students will engage in through April as part of an in and after school program.
Racht thanked the formation of several community partnerships that have allowed the school to provide more hands on learning for the children involved.
This year for the STEM program, third through eighth graders will be treated to field trips to Notre Dame, Southwestern Michigan College and the Upton Planetarium in St. Joseph.
Last year, students got to work with Notre Dame’s Micha Kilburn, who is the director of outreach education for the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics.
Kilburn helped students learn about the principles of physics by helping to facilitate a catapult challenge, an egg drop challenge, a STEM scavenger hunt and chemistry show. She also helped the children to build mini robots in 2015.
Additionally, Amy Stark, the director for the DNA Learning Center, helped students crack the case to a fictional crime, using a forensic lab. Students will again have the opportunity to play detective and use a forensics DNA lab this year.
Southwestern Michigan College also helped students get excited about science and will again be participating in the program this year.
SMC math professor Andrew Dohm provided hands-on models for students and helped to organize biology and chemistry labs.
This year, each grade level has a subject they will delve into including forensic DNA studies, physics and outer space.
Students will also get to see and animal education show, where live animals are brought into the classroom so that students can learn about them. The program will end April with an egg drop challenge.
As a project-based learning school, Racht said encouraging students to explore a new topic with a more hands-on approach is at the foundation of the school’s curriculum.
“It makes [daily lessons] tangible for the kids,” Racht said.