Duke and GSSM set new PASE for district science classes
Darlington County School District middle school teachers learned to use new scientific experiment kits provided by the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics and funded by Duke Energy. Photos by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Darlington County School District middle school science classes will soon receive a boost of excitement as teachers incorporate new lab experiment kits provided by the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) and funded by Duke Energy.
Last week, the Portable Advanced STEM Exploration (PASE) teacher training program was introduced to 15 middle school math and science teachers from across the district, and instructors from GSSM showed teachers a variety of experiments they could conduct using their new lab kits.
The kits included nifty gadgets like force measurement devices, allowing teachers and students to better understand Newton’s third law (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction), air measurement probes to track respiration rates in experiment subjects like mealworms, and precise PH readers that give more detailed data than the traditional Litmus test strips.
PASE Instructor Program Coordinator LaChanda Hare said that once teachers and pupils are comfortable performing standard experiments, they can use these lab kits to improvise new tests, which may in turn prompt new questions and more opportunities for learning.
“The skill that we want students to walk away with is how to actually conduct a scientific investigation that’s inquiry-based, that’s hands-on… they build a story around making a claim, providing evidence, and supporting it with research,” said Hare. “For teachers, we want to give them a more engaging way to understand the content, to build on that and apply it through activities.”
Tracey Mosby, a fifteen-year teaching veteran and science instructor at Darlington Middle School, said she learned a lot from the PASE training session and had fun figuring out different ways to use the new equipment to enliven sometimes staid scientific principles. Once teachers completed PASE training, there was a short two-day turnaround before they could receive their new equipment and introduce it to their students. Mosby said she could hardly wait to get started.
“(Students) will get to explore and figure things out on their own, rather than us just telling them ‘this is the way this works.’ They will get to explore first, and then we’ll explain to them. It will make for great discussions in the classroom,” said Mosby.
Mindy Taylor, Government and Community Relations Manager for Duke Energy, said the PASE program is just the type of initiative Duke wants to encourage because it challenges students to find answers through active inquiry instead of passive learning.
“One of the focus areas of the Duke Energy Foundation is to support STEM-related science and math programs, and the Governor’s School instructors are experts in that field,” said Taylor. “That’s why we want to partner with GSSM to provide this innovative training for these teachers to take into their classrooms.”
For more information about PASE, go to www.scgssm.org/outreach-camps/pase, or contact Randy La Cross, GSSM Vice President of Outreach and Research, at (843)383-3916 or lacross@gssm.k12.sc.us or LaChanda Hare, GSSM Outreach Instructor & Coordinator, at (843)383-3901 x 4016 or lnhare@gssm.k12.sc.us.