Offered the chance to have researchers from Rhode Island NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) visit her classroom, Sophia Academy science teacher Alyssa Wood seized the moment.

“One of the big things I’ve found is, if given the opportunity, take it,” said Wood, six years into her teaching career. “It makes sense, having a scientist come to our classroom, knowing that the visit is going to be followed by a trip to the Bay Campus.”

In December, EPSCoR graduate fellows Rose Martin and Francois Morison visited Wood’s classroom to share their educational journeys. Five months later, the EPSCoR program brought Wood and a busload of her students to the Marine Science Research Facility at the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay Campus.

The daylong Hands-on Science Experience began with gathering phytoplankton at the dock, followed by filter feeder experiments with mussels and building plankton models. The group ate lunch in the Helen Mosby Center, overlooking the bay, and then broke into pairs for a poster-making session to present what they learned.

“It’s a great experience,” Wood said. “Not only are the students hearing about the GSO (Graduate School of Oceanography) and URI, scientists and research, but they’re also learning the vocabulary. The more they hear it, the more they use it, and the more they internalize it.”

This process makes the classroom learning relevant and grabs the students’ interest, Wood added: “The methodology dissolves that wall between inside and outside of the classroom.”

Founded in 2001, Sophia Academy is a private, independent middle school for fifth through eighth grade girls from low income homes in Providence.

The relationship between teacher and students, and Sophia Academy and RI NSF EPSCoR is an enduring, consistent effort. Wood teaches all of the grades, every year. This is her third year with the girls, who are now in seventh grade. Last year, Outreach Coordinator Tim Pelletier visited the then-sixth graders.

In the classroom, students learn about such scientific skills as developing controls and variables, and graphing results. During the Bay Campus visit, the Sophia students ran an experiment that involved two tanks — one control and one with mussels — and hypothesized about what they expected to happen when they added algae to the water.

The girls took on various duties, tracking time, measuring water clarity, reporting data, and graphing the results. Within 25 minutes, the tank with the mussels showed clarity in contrast to the cloudy one without.

Beyond direct alignment with the state’s Grade Span Expectations, the mussel experiment also brought the classroom lessons into context.

“This is applied math, applied science,” Wood said, observing her students as they worked. “It’s invaluable to have these opportunities. It’s a great way to assess what they’ve been hearing. What does this graph mean? What do these numbers mean? What does it mean to be a good scientist?”

Wood said many of her students are the first generation in the school system; they will be the first to go to college. Some speak other languages besides English in the home.

“They don’t know about the opportunities,” said Wood. “This is a beautiful extension from speaking about scientists and global warming. They learn that if you care about the bay, if you are a steward of the environment, you can go to URI, you can specialize in marine studies.”

Wood said these experiences also added to her growth as an educator, helping her create consistent opportunities that she could reference in the classroom before and after the visit.

“My goal is not to have them say, ‘I like science best’ or ‘I’m going to be a scientist,’” Wood said. “But rather, to know this is what a scientist does. The applied math and science are important, too. And, for them to know, if I like writing, I can write about a researcher — it doesn’t have to be about creative story writing.”

Prior to the visit, Wood prepared her students for an activity after the Hands-on Science Experience, where they would plan, organize, design, and create posters, depicting what they learned during the day.

After lunch, the students referred to their notes from class and set to work. They drew visual representations and provided supporting facts. One pair focused on the light wand for reading water clarity and the smooth hound sharks swimming in the aquarium tanks. Another poster detailed the facts on phytoplankton and filter feeders.

Going around the room, the girls presented their posters and talked about their impressions. A wrap-up exercise directed each student to write for three minutes straight and reflect on the questions: How do you feel? What did you learn/what surprised you? What questions do you still have? The girls, standing in a circle, shared their thoughts:

“I didn’t know that plankton gave us 50 percent of our oxygen.”

“I’m surprised not all sharks are big enough to eat humans.”

“I’m glad we came. I feel lucky.”

“I learned a lot about the bay that I never knew before.”

“It inspired me to learn more about marine life.”

Story and photos by Amy Dunkle