High school helpers teach kids science

High schoolers at St. Edmond Catholic School got to teach their younger peers about science Thursday afternoon.

The junior chemistry class was joined by a class of first-graders to learn more about how to make observations and record data in a lab.

Both classes were learning about matter, but the specifics were a bit different.

The older students were learning about the difference between ionic and covalent molecular bonds, and how those bonds affect the properties of compounds.

The younger kids were learning how matter can be a solid, liquid or a gas.

And while the juniors had a number of tests they could run on each sample substance, their younger partners were most interested in the Bunsen burners.

“I love fire,” said first-grader Alex Bouma.

“I just want more stuff to burn,” Jack Webster said.

The three states of matter have been a focus in their science lessons, said first-grade teacher Kim Galles.

“We also have been working very hard on the skills scientists use,” Galles said. “For example, recording, analyzing, describing, taking notes. This is an opportunity to be able to see students doing that.”

It was also an opportunity to wear safety goggles and learn about tying long hair back when in a laboratory.

“It builds interest and enthusiasm for science, and this is an opportunity for us to do some hands-on learning. It also allows the high school students to be the teacher,” Galles said.

Chemistry teacher Emily Van Egmond reminded her students to help the younger ones in taking their data.

It’s the first time she’s had first-graders in her lab, but not the first time her students have taught the younger ones.

“Last year I was teaching a physics class, and I took my students to the fifth-grade class to teach about gravity,” Van Egmond said. “That’s an advantage of having all the grades in one building.”

The high schoolers were testing compounds for flammability, melting point, solubility, hardness, and other properties, in order to learn the properties of the two kinds of compounds.

Though they were happy to teach the first-graders, some of them wished they could have joined the younger class during their own lab earlier in the week.

Read full article at: http://www.messengernews.net/news/local-news/2017/04/high-school-helpers-teach-kids-science/

Related article at: High School Chemistry Help