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Museum Helps Educators Expand Ways to Teach Science

Teachers from around the state are spending part of their summer at Georgia Southern University’s Museum as they learn new education techniques they can put into practice when they return to the classroom this fall.

The Georgia Southern Museum’s School Outreach Program Project SENSE (Science Education Network of the Southeast) is designed for educators who teach third through eighth grades. The program gives them the chance to add to their classroom strategies by learning new ways to effectively teach physical science. The week-long workshops are taught by members of the Georgia Southern University faculty.

“The release of the Common Core Curriculum and the upcoming release of the Next Generation Science Standards means that school districts and teachers need opportunities to learn new and effective ways to help them make sure their students are getting the most of their science lessons,” said Georgia Southern Museum Director Brent Tharp, Ph.D.

This summer’s workshop topics include new ways to teach topics that include how heat is produced, how insulation affects heating and cooling, magnets and magnetic forces, light and color, attributes of lenses and prisms, how sound is produced, and simple machines. New techniques for teaching about force and motion, physical and chemical changes, states of water, static and current electricity, forms of energy and transfer of heat will also be covered.

“We educate our museum visitors every day through our exhibits,” said Tharp. “But our school outreach programs allow us to impact how thousands of students learn inside the classroom. The information teachers take away from the museum program this summer has the power to change the learning experience for their students.”

The Georgia Southern program is unique because teachers continue to receive support long after they have left the Museum workshop. When teachers return to school, their work is supported by interactive science kits that are delivered directly to the classroom. Over 200 kits and exhibits covering every standard from K – 8 are available for teachers to order. The kits coordinate with state and national standards and include lesson plans, equipment and all of the supplies teachers need for two weeks’ worth of interactive science activities—guaranteeing that the lessons learned at Georgia Southern will have the chance to make an impact in classrooms around the state.

—Betsy Nolen

Are you a teacher in Southeast Georgia interested in participating in Project SENSE or its sister program Project BESST which provides interactive social studies kits? You can find out more about the programs at georgiasouthern.edu/museum/outreach