Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: HALE SHEIKERZ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
It's been an interesting year for Kym Helms' third-grade class at Prices Fork Elementary School.
The 19 pupils have had an eventful school year - all by way of a 55-gallon saltwater aquarium that sits near the window.
This isn't just any fish tank. For the pupils, it represents a trip around the world and across many oceans in the months since Helms kicked off her yearlong unit on science and technology last September.
She combined math, geography, science, language arts, social studies and even economics with hands-on scientific investigation in her Ocean Adventure Project.
"This is what motivates students to learn, by being actively involved in the process," Helms said.
The project followed the BOC Challenge boat race that sailed around the world. The race started in Charleston, S.C., with stops in Australia, South Africa and Uruguay.
During the race, students linked through the Internet with the skippers from the various boats and received faxes with daily reports on each boat's position.
The students navigated the course of the race by plotting the route on a classroom map. They learned about the oceans and seas the boats crossed, endangered coral reefs, seawater temperature and marine life.
The class created a similar marine environment in their aquarium with living rocks and fish. In teams, they studied and asked questions about the changes that occurred in their tank each week. Why did the water pressure increase? Why did two fish die? What are those green things sticking inside the aquarium's glass?
The pupils assessed their data and tested and evaluated the chemical balance of the tank. They solved their questions and diagnosed and treated unfamiliar conditions by reading books, magazines and journals. They also surfed the Internet through Blacksburg Electronic Village for information. "Throughout the year, pupils would ask 'Are we learning anything?' because they were having so much fun they didn't think they were learning," Helms said.
By making science more interesting, pupils were more eager to learn, read and write. The project also developed thinking and writing skills.
The class studied the languages and native customs of the ports the boats docked at during the race. Each student kept two journals throughout the year, one to record scientific experiments, data collection and observations and the second as a personal journal to record thoughts about the project and race.
The BOC Challenge is a solo, around-the-world yacht race started in 1982-83. The boats traveled 27,000 miles around the world for approximately nine months. One boat capsized after it was hit by an unknown object that struck a hole. The sailor was rescued by a competitor. Another sailor was lost at sea during a rough storm. Rescuers never found him.
Helms said the class discussed the problems the boats faced during turbulent weather, the capsized boat and the missing sailor. She also said the class was interested in talking about why there was only one female racer in this traditionally male sport.
When the race ended for the sailors in April, the adventure started for the students. In mid-May, Helms took the students on a two-day trip to Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Helms said this was the first time third-graders from the county have gone on an overnight trip. The synergy among the students days before the trip was indescribable, she said. Many of the students had never been away from home or seen the ocean.
On their trip, the students visited Nauticus and the Virginia Marine Science Museum. They went on a dolphin watch and ocean collection on a boat ride in the Atlantic Ocean.
Paying for their trip's expense was also a learning process for the students. The class sold T-shirts, held two yard sales and had a math challenge. In addition, the entire class baked 150 loaves of sourdough bread. The baking introduced students to the economics of selling, supply and demand, and complicated math that involved multiplication and division of fractions and use of different measurements.
"I liked it when we made the bread and had to count it up and the math that we worked on," Andrea Linkous said.
Helms received a $900 Student-Teacher-Administrator Research grant from Montgomery County Public Schools to do the unit and purchase the necessary resources.
Ocean Adventure Project's success doesn't stop with the students' excitement and reactions. Recently it was selected as one of 11 programs to receive a 1995 Excellence in Education Award from Virginia Tech. The award recognizes innovative programs at Virginia public schools and community colleges. There were 179 entries for this year's awards.
Because the project has had such a positive impact on the students and her classroom curriculum, Helms plans to use the project again next year and throughout her teaching career.
by CNB