Program brings science to life
If math and science involves hip-hop music, dancing, hovercrafts and sumo wrestling teachers, then Horizon Middle School has it covered.
On Thursday, the Central Valley school was the only Spokane-area campus selected for a performance of FMA Live!, an interactive science education program created by NASA and Honeywell currently touring the country.
The program focuses on scientist Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion and the universal law of gravity, and is named after Newton’s second law – force equals mass times acceleration.
During the performance, professional actors explain why things move through video and dance and interactive demonstrations.
“It was so cool,” said Cameron Parrish, 12, who jumped from a springboard while wearing a Velcro suit, sticking to a wall in order to demonstrate inertia. “I thought it was a fun way to learn.”
Parrish admitted not knowing Newton’s three laws of motion before Thursday’s program, along with classmate Linsday Leavitt.
“I think this will help me remember it more,” said Leavitt, 13.
“It made science modern,” added Courtney Ramsey, 14. “It can be real dull sometimes.”
The aerospace corporation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration teamed up to produce the program in an effort to get students in grades five through eight interested in careers in science, technology and engineering, and math.
According to NASA and Honeywell, the number of science- and math-related jobs is increasing three times faster than other occupations, while interest in those jobs remains at a lull.
The three-year FMA Live! tour, which began in 2003, is expected to be viewed by as many as 125,000 middle school students across the country.
“NASA expects the next astronaut to land on Mars will probably be from that age range,” said Anthony Beier, a spokesman from Honeywell in Spokane Valley. “This show is specifically targeted to reach those students.”
Schools are selected for the program through a community outreach program called Honeywell Hometown Solutions, which involves science and math education within the communities where Honeywell is located.
In addition to Horizon students, fifth-grade students from nearby Chester Elementary and Ponderosa Elementary schools also were invited.
“They don’t get to see this kind of stuff very often,” Horizon Principal Denis Rusca said.
To the delight of students, during the performance, Rusca was propelled across the stage – while sitting on a hover chair – right into the middle of a giant cream pie.
“It didn’t taste too bad,” he said.
It was the first time that Rusca could remember the school hosting a science-only program.
He said the timing is perfect, because of the new science requirement on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, also known as the WASL. The high-stakes test is the state’s key indicator of student performance in reading, math, writing, and now science.
“Maybe this will help raise student interest and get the scores up,” Rusca said.
According to a 2003 study from the Center for National Education statistics, academic performance in the areas of math and science has greatly improved already.
The study showed that since 1995, United States eighth-graders outperformed their peers in 25 countries in mathematics and 32 countries in science.
But the research shows that “less and less, students are going into the scientific fields,” Rusca said. “If we helped even two more kids get interested in science and math today, by gosh that’s great.”