By SAMANTHA GHOLAR
sgholar@newssun.com
SEBRING - Students got a day's worth of science lessons at Fred Wild Elementary School Wednesday when the faculty and staff held Science Day.
FWE Principal Laura Waldron explained the purpose behind the newly formed program.
"Anytime we have early release days, we have science days. It's an all day science study that we encourage teachers to do ... We let them run with it; we just tell them that it's science day and they decide their own experiments and activities," Waldron said.
Each teacher at FWE sets up unique, learning projects for students in grades first through fifth.
"Teachers and students are integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) into hands-on activities and instruction," Assistant Principal Page Magee said.
Fifth-grade instructor Krystal Griffin had a fun day of experimenting that ended in an aroma-filled room Wednesday.
"We are testing different brands of popcorn to see which brand is the best," Griffin said.
Students had gone through nine bags of microwave popcorn to see what brand is the lightest, healthiest and pops the best.
"Anyone want to tell which one is the best, raise your hand," Griffin said.
One student was called on and answered quickly. "Pop Secret," she said.
Of course, the class devoured the treat after they tested and documented their data on their project boards but they made sure to keep the data in mind for future reference.
First-graders in Regina Jones's classes spent their day learning all about apples.
The "apple inspection" taught the young minds all about analysis.
"We used our five senses to inspect apples inside and out," Jones said. "After we have inspected the apples we will make apple sauce to see how the properties of the apple changes once we've made it."
The students balanced and weighed apples, taste tested, smelled and numerous other things to get enough data to create an analysis. Each student took their turn telling their classmates what apple type - Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Red Delicious - tasted the best to them.
"We record data using words, pictures or numbers. That is what we do with our apple tasting graph," Jones said to her class.
The class consensus was that green apples were the favorite, followed closely by yellow, and red took third place for the taste testers.
The first-graders also tested which apples sink and float in water during their experiments. Waldron continues to encourage the integration of more science in the classrooms at Fred Wild.
The changing core structure of the state curriculum calls for current kindergartners and first-graders to study a number of new topics and complete the suggested work course by the 2014/2015 school year in order to be on par with the new changes.
"The kids enjoy it," Waldron said.
The dedication and innovation of the administrators and instructors at Fred Wild could easily be seen Wednesday through the fun, unique method of study in the classrooms.
Friday, September 28, 2012 - www.newssun.com/092812-sg-FWE-science