Elementary students in Bethel-Tate Local Schools’ Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Program hosted an animated museum on Nov. 15 at Hill Intermediate School.
Some 64 students in grades 3-5 each portrayed a famous person from history that has impacted the world of science, technology, engineering or mathematics, according to Fay Wagner, gifted coordinator and intervention specialist for the school district.
Students researched and wrote original biographical speeches about the people they portrayed.
During the animated museum, students in costume and character were arranged in a timeline of STEM history, and they delivered their speeches as guests moved through the timeline.
This is the third year for the animated museum. The curriculum was developed at Bethel-Tate several years ago, according to Wagner, and the event “has become a favorite of STEM families and teachers alike.”
“In our gifted STEM program, we believe in the power of student-directed learning. Through this project, our students had a great deal of latitude in choice of topic and how they chose to present the findings of their research,” Wagner wrote in an email. “By allowing the students to ‘drive’ their work, they take ownership of it, and learn how to overcome obstacles and work through challenges that inevitably arise.”
She added, “We’re striving to build within our students the 21st century skills of communication, creativity and critical thinking.”
Lexi Black, a fourth grade STEM student who portrayed Marie Curie, said she got interested in the work of the physicist and chemist after learning that Curie discovered radium and polonium.
Black went on to explain how she prepared for the animated museum.
“My friends and I worked really hard, and we did a lot of research, and we would talk about it all recess,” she said.
Lucas Hoess and Trace Gearig, both fifth-grade STEM students, teamed up to portray Orville and Wilbur Wright, respectively.
“We decided that we were going to be partners, so we figured that the Wright bothers, we were interested in them, so we chose the Wright brothers because of that,” Hoess explained.
Gearig said that during their research, he was surprised to find out that Wilbur Wright did not live that long.
“He died of typhoid fever when he was only 45,” he said.
Hoess said that the most fun part of the project was “looking up the information, and putting it on the poster.”
He added, “Presenting this, and telling people about their lives is pretty fun, and I just think that’s the best part of it.”
Gearig noted that he enjoyed learning about the brothers, and finding out that their lives were totally different than what he thought.
Elementary students in Bethel-Tate Local Schools’ Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Program hosted an animated museum on Nov. 15, 2018 at Hill Intermediate School. Lexi Black, pictured, a fourth grader, portrayed Marie Curie during the event.