Battlefield Elementary School student Aidan Muller reacts to a chemistry experiment during a recent field trip to the University of Mary Washington. The experience, a collaboration between UMW and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, had students from 16 Spotsylvania schools crossing campus for lessons in STEM subjects. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
Elephant toothpaste. The giant glob of sudsy foam created in a classroom experiment gave Battlefield Elementary School student Aidan Muller a thought: “Chemistry is cool!”
The whimsical tooth wash – hydrogen peroxide mixed with dish soap and a healthy dose of imagination – was part of a fall field trip designed to get students excited about STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) and educators comfortable with teaching them. Third- through fifth-graders in Spotsylvania County Public Schools’ Rising Scholars program swept through the University of Mary Washington, soaking up lessons on aquatic plants and outer space, and having up-close encounters with robots.
“It’s a unique opportunity for these students to learn about real-world solutions being developed by scientists,” said Michael Clark, director of academic engagement for the Chief Technology Office of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, which brought the robots to UMW’s Fredericksburg campus.
The base partnered with Mary Washington’s College of Education, and departments of biology, chemistry and physics, to host the elementary-school entourage – from 16 public schools – on an exploration of topics, from kinetics to cosmology, and how the arts and humanities can tie them together. Read more.
