Area science teachers go back to school

Mathematics and science teachers from area school districts had an opportunity to revisit their childhood last weekend as part of the Engineer's Week Math and Science Teachers Workshop. The event, sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and held in the Towne and Moore buildings Saturday, drew more than 90 teachers from local elementary, middle and high schools. According to the event's organizers, the workshop's goals were to help teachers integrate math, science and technology into their classrooms and foster student interest in engineering as a field of study. The program consisted of four working sessions -- "Science Friction," "Human Modeling: Engineering Experiences about the Human Body," "Causing a Co'Motion': An Introduction to Robotics" and "Human Motion Simulation and Math and Science" -- each geared toward teachers of a particular grade level. Each workshop was broken up into two 90-minute segments. Program Co-Coordinator Oufreez Argenta, a first-year student in the Graduate School of Education and an intern in the Engineering School, said, "I'm very happy with the turnout.? All grade levels and both [math and science teachers] were evenly represented." Engineering junior Sarah Winnacker, the organizer of Engineer's Week, said many aspects of math and science are difficult for people to understand if they are not exposed to concepts early and continuously. She explained that these subjects are not sufficiently "acknowledged as an integral part of the curriculum [but] often feared." The "Human Modeling" workshop was recommended for teachers of grades three through five. Participants took part in numerous grade-level appropriate science activities, including the construction of a human body with functioning limbs and a dialysis tubing demonstration. "A key point of the workshop was the integration of science and engineering into other curriculum areas, especially language arts," said session co-facilitator Jane Horwitz, who coordinates Penn-Merck Collaborative, a cooperative effort between the University and the pharmaceutical giant that operates out of GSE. "It gave teachers ways to cut across different disciplines." She added that the session was intended to focus on areas of content that are usually not covered adequately in the classroom. According to Nancy Lee Bergey, a co-presenter and facilitator for the Penn-Merck Collaborative, young students tend to study the human body in simple terms. She said she hoped teachers who attended the session would try to explain bodily systems to their students in elementary and creative ways. To that end, Bergey asked the teachers to construct mock human bodies using paper towel rolls, tape and rulers. "I think [the workshop] is refreshing," said Mae Diabay, a teacher at John Bartram High School at 67th Street and Elmwood Avenue in West Philadelphia. "It's geared toward certain content standards? and a coalition of school principles." Another workshop, "Human Motion Simulation and Math and Science" -- which was suggested for high school teachers -- first introduced participants to a software package called "Jack," which provided a three-dimensional interactive environment for simulating motion and speech. In the second part of that workshop, the participants used graphing calculators and calculator-based rangers -- devices that act like radar detectors by sending out high-frequency pulses -- to apply graphic interpretation skills to scientific concepts such as the conservation of energy. Session facilitator Boris Dirnbach, a teacher at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts in Philadelphia and a University alumnus, said "the idea is to get teachers to use simple technology to achieve science mileage." Craig Strohm, a seventh and eighth grade science teacher, attended the workshop on robotics. "It encompassed a fun, hands-on experience while requiring the use of measurement, graphing and programming," he said. The session taught "a thematic lesson between science and math."

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