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SCIENCE IN THE FULLERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Hands-on inquiry based science in grades K-6 in the Fullerton School District impacts approximately 409 teachers and 7,362 students. Fullerton School District continues to strive to present a quality science program, reflecting a balanced, comprehensive approach based on standards that include the teaching of investigation and experimentation skills, along with direct instruction and reading. Prior to our involvement with the Beckman @ Science program, science was taught from textbooks, with limited hands-on science activities incorporated by individual teachers. The benefits of inquiry-based science instruction include: student engagement, the application to the real world, the promotion of teamwork and collaboration, the accommodation to different learning styles, and the ability to extend science to other curricular areas. Teachers in K-6 use the Macmillan Science Program, utilizing district science kits to deliver hands-on inquiry-based science instruction. This program effectively addresses the science content and the methods by which science is best taught. The numerous hands-on inquiry investigations are designed to engage the students while providing them with concrete examples of the grade level science content. Fullerton School District goals include sustaining materials refurbishment, expanding teacher training, incorporating a district-wide active science assessment program, and maintaining our exemplary community partnerships.
Fullerton School District has reaped the benefits from the development of partnerships with community organizations, businesses, colleges and universities establishing a means through which the scientific community can contribute to our district science program. This year, the following science programs have extended science to engage children in learning through inquiry:
Adventures in Science for Girls and Boys This one-day science field trip for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students provides concrete experiences for them where they visit with engineers, scientists, and doctors and have many opportunities to ask questions and get a “feel” for science-related careers. This collaboration is considered a perfect example of how partnerships between the Fullerton School District and Raytheon, Beckman Coulter, and the Southern California College of Optometry can create a “learning laboratory.” This annual event extends science beyond the classroom informing both boys and girls about careers in science-related fields.
CEEP (Children’s Environmental Education Program) This free third grade science program, supported through partnerships with the Fullerton Arboretum, Fullerton School District, California State University Fullerton, local businesses, and community volunteers, uses inquiry based scientific activities to teach students about the four biomes: desert, rain forest, conifer forest and ponds. This field study provides appreciation for and the need to protect our environments.
Laguna Lake: 4th Grade Outdoor Program is sponsored by Fullerton Parks and Recreation, in collaboration with the Fullerton School District. This program includes a tour of the lake, discussions of aquatic ecosystems, fish biology, casting a fishing line, and a reinforcement of the concepts through a hands-on art activity.
West Coyote Hills Trail and Interpretive Nature Center This year our District Lead Science Teachers joined members of the West Coyote Hills planning team for a tour of preserve. The purpose of the tour was to provide district teachers an opportunity to view the preserve and give suggestions as to the educational value of possible outdoor science field trips for district students. The teachers shared a variety of ways the preserve could be utilized to enhance the study of earth and life sciences.
Project GPS2: Guiding and Preparing STEM Students is a grant funded to Fullerton Junior College to ignite interest in science, technology, engineering, and math for elementary, junior high, high school, and college students. This year, STEM students were placed at several Fullerton School District schools to assist with the set-up, clean-up and monitoring of students during science kit instruction and work with small groups of students reviewing science concepts.
Science in the Library Night (at Fullerton Main Library) On October 6th the theme of the evenings’ science focus was “Ecology.” Rudy’s Radical Science presented a “Eco-Magic” program conveying the importance of the three R’s of the environment: reduce, renew, recycle. Following that presentation, Fullerton School District Lead Science Teachers supervised students participating in ecology-based hands-on activities.
Faces of Fullerton - Fullerton School District lead science teachers supervised a table at the Faces of Fullerton, an intergenerational event sponsored by the Fullerton Collaborative that showcases the diversity that exists in Fullerton, where students and families participated in hands-on science activities related to the concept of “chemical change.”
Ready-Set-Review- “Ready-Set-Review” is a fifth grade science program that was developed in 2006 by the members of the Fullerton School District Science Advocacy Council to assist students in reviewing science concepts assessed on the Fifth Grade CST Science Test. This review, delivered by retired engineers, scientists, and teachers, is a 90-minute science review of concepts focusing on the study of rocks and minerals, electricity, magnetism and matter. This year, new Science Advocacy Council members took on the role of lead presenters.
Building multiple partnerships is viewed as a long-term goal of our science program. This year’s broad base of community support is indicative of the value of the Fullerton School District Hands-On Science Program and that our community partners are committed to raising public awareness of the need for improving science literacy and supporting an inquiry-based program for future years.
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