Dec. 3, 2019 -- Students at Gearity Professional Development School have the opportunity to become actual scientists, from ecologists and meteorologists, to paleontologists and engineers, twice each week when they visit their building’s science lab. On Thursday, November 21, they further embraced those professional roles in their Capstone Presentations. This thrice-yearly event allows students to “show what they know” and caps off the first trimester’s worth of learning, especially in the areas of science and English language arts.

As parents and community members visited the classrooms, students in grades kindergarten through 5th grade made individual presentations highlighting what they’ve learned in specific topic areas.

Mrs. Hartig's and Mrs. Evan's kindergartners focused on their observations of weather, having made rain gauges and wind socks in the school’s Science Lab. They then hypothesized about the best locations to place their weather tools, investigated outside to either prove or disprove their predictions, and eventually took their tools home to place in the proper locations in their own yards.  They also simulated a rain cloud and tested wind speed with anemometers.

First graders studied the sun as the main source of the earth’s energy, and combined science with art by placing colored paper outside to witness how the sunlight changed the shade of their paper over time.

Second graders got to act as paleontologists, conducting dinosaur reports, a perennial favorite for 8-year olds. They also created lapbooks after investigating how worms affect the soil in the school’s garden and hoop house.

Third graders studied life cycles using the butterfly. They each created a digital journal of images and explanations following the change from egg to larva to pupa to butterfly, combining both fiction and nonfiction about life cycles into their research.

Fourth graders spiraled back and also studied dinosaurs, with a greater focus on fossils. Teachers Aimee Banas and Gretchen Grabowski managed to locate and order separate blocks of soil for each student that contained actual dinosaur fossils which students had to excavate, record, and research to determine what part of a dinosaur it was, what type of dinosaur it came from, and where on earth that dinosaur would’ve lived. They added in some social studies by studying about the first female paleontologist.

Fifth graders also spiraled back, adding on to the 1st graders’ study of the sun by examining how energy flows in an ecosystem. After investigating local food webs, each student selected one ecosystem, from a rain forest to a desert to the tundra, and identified ten consumers, producers, and decomposers. They then created their own visuals representation of the symbiotic relationships among them, adding in what happens when the typical wen is disrupted by invasive species or disease. They tied in social studies and ELA by choosing a country where their ecosystem is found and creating a trifold brochure with details about everything from religion and holidays to natural resources and food.

Every classroom presented to the visiting adults and to two “buddy classrooms,” according to Gearity’s K-5 Science and Engineering teacher Sean Sullivan who helped oversee the capstone project along with STEM Coordinator Jackie Taylor. “They were really excited to show what they learned and to learn from each other,” said Mr. Sullivan. “And it was nice for parents to see what a STEM school is really about.”

Gearity is one of the district’s two state-certified STEM schools, along with Boulevard.

Fifth graders Amiah Lackey and Demi Hill felt they gained a deeper understanding for their topics than they would have with a traditional textbook or worksheet. “When you’re doing worksheets, you’re just putting words down on the paper,” said Amiah.

“It’s better with the project because you can actually see all of it and see all of it,” said Demi.

Mr. Sullivan agrees and says that when students visit the science lab, they “know exactly what type of scientist they are. And they get to fully experience that, by experimenting and making mistakes and learning from doing. Over the years, we’ve had students who really want to pursue those careers professionally.”