“I’ve never made slime before!” said C.R. Weeks Kindergarten student Kimberly Merwin.
Merwin and her classmates learned the slime they made was the result of an exothermic chemical reaction. It’s a high concept made fun to the students thanks to an international STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) collaboration that’s bringing common understanding to complex ideas.
“A lot of the stuff is big words that maybe one or two students pick up,” said 4th-year Binghamton University student Kevin Kong who presented to the Kindergarten class. “But you talk about chemical reactions and ask them about it 45 minutes later and they’ve retained some of the information.”
Binghamton University is working in partnership with the University of Toronto to implement the Science and Technology curriculum developed and used in Ontario in schools within our region. The Windsor Central School District is the pilot district for this endeavor.
“With the collaboration with BU here so often the students know this is important stuff and important to them,” said Kindergarten teacher Tara MacNamee.
“It’s really to encourage kids to get involved in STEM. They think it’s hard but it can be quite fun,” said Kong.
Kindergarten through 2nd-grade students at Palmer, Weeks, and Bell Elementary Schools all took part in the program. First-grade students created an animal who could blend into one of three environments: jungle, arctic, or desert. The students could also give their animals traits which would help it survive.
“I made a giraffe because I like giraffes,” said first-grade student Trenton Petras-Clapper. “A giraffe can live in the jungle. It’s a flying giraffe so it can fly away from predators.”
“We’re really here to reinforce what they’ve learned. We asked them if they knew different terms about animals and environments and they already did,” said Kong.
Reinforcing learning and getting young students to see science as fun is good news, even if it promises to be a bit messy outside of the classroom.
“Now I can make slime at home and teach my brother how to make it,” said Kindergarten student Elena Hohlbach.
