Program aims to show educators how to make science lessons more engaging 

Something was burning inside a room in Virginia Tech’s Seitz Hall: Cheetos.

The cheesy (and now chargrilled) snacks were sacrificed to a lesson on science and teaching.

It was part of the VISTA Elementary Science Institute, which is being held at universities across the state. The goal of the four-week program is to show educators how to make science lessons hands-on and question-based to engage students and put them in the driver’s seat for their own learning.

Students ask questions to learn, work together to solve problems and talk about their findings.

Officials said such methods work and research backs that up. But change is tough and resources can be limited, so that’s where the institute’s training comes in.

“The idea is if you can get kids engaged and buying into what you’re doing you don’t have to fight the ‘why do I have to do this,’ ” said teacher Kevin Agee, who led the burning Cheetos lesson on energy transformation. “What they need to learn comes from them.”

During that lesson students created “calorimeters” with an aluminum can filled with water and a thermometer. They lit a Cheeto on fire, or rather their teachers did, as students peered out from behind oversized, protective goggles.

The Cheeto went up in flames, heating the aluminum can above it and the water inside. Students measured the water’s temperature to understand the transformation of energy from chemical to radiant and thermal.

Agee, who teaches sixth-grade science at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Roanoke during the school year, is among 17 teachers participating in the institute at Tech.

They’ve spent the past several weeks learning and this week put their skills to the test with a group of local elementary school students.

Agee and the local teachers are part of a statewide network of educators participating in the institute at different sites. Once the training is complete educators will continue receiving support and resources from VISTA, something Agee said drew him in.

VISTA, or the Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement, is a partnership between the Virginia Department of Education, more than 60 school systems and six Virginia universities, including Virginia Tech. Launched in 2010, it’s funded by a five-year, $34 million federal grant.

Tech became VISTA’s fourth implementation site this year, joining George Mason University, the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University, and giving the program a site in Southwest Virginia.

VISTA is focused on spreading the best research-based science teaching practices across the state.

“There have been calls and calls for education reform,” Agee said. “This shows we’re doing it.”

The changes to teaching were welcomed by students, who said the summer learning was different from what happens during the school year.

“We get to do a lot of experiments and stuff,” said 10-year-old Nicole Lara. “It’s way more interesting.”

Taking a break from science lessons, Nicole and her classmates ate lunch on the bleachers of Lane Stadium where they described what lessons in school are usually like.

“Your schoolteacher is just like ‘blah, blah, blah,’ ” she said.

“Talking, talking, talking,” 11-year-old Griffin Hestnes chimed in.

“And you highlight stuff,” Andrew Wapperom, 10, explained between bites of his sandwich. “You basically read stuff you know.”

Andrew said he liked the lessons this week.

“We got to burn stuff,” he said. “That’s always a fun thing to do.”

He lamented the fact teachers actually got to handle the flames, not students.

“They got to do the fun stuff while we just watched,” he said.

He candidly offered that the reason he came to the program was simply to see his friends, but it was more fun than he thought it would be.

“We don’t do that many experiments at school,” he said.

But it may not be that way for long.

Amy Bordeaux, VISTA site director at Tech, said the hope is that the work being done will create a systemic change in how science is taught at the elementary level.

“It’s wonderful to see the light bulbs go off with the teachers. ‘So that’s what I need to teach my kids in science,’ ” Bordeaux said.

She carefully emphasized while this might be a different approach, it’s one rooted in research.

“It’s not just ‘oh this is a good idea, let’s try this.’ It’s based on 20 years of research, coming out of George Mason mostly,” she said,

And the research doesn’t end there. Teachers participating in the institute will be studied during the school year with observations in the classroom. They’ll also form a network where they can share what works in the classroom and tap into resources together.

“We can’t know everything but we can learn together,” Bordeaux said.

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