BATTELLE STEM FAIR
At Metro we do a lot of exhibitions. Exhibitions are students’ public demonstrations of learning shared with teachers, parents, outside experts and other community members interested in evaluating the students’ level of achievement.
Many of our courses use exhibitions to give students practice in presenting their work and to allow feedback to students from authentic audiences.
We’ve called on Battelle staff to participate in small and large exhibitions and students’ year-end Round Table Exhibitions of their progress. This year, our second-year students will take that concept one step further with Gateway Exhibitions that will be the transition to their second phase of learning at Metro: electives, college coursework and internships.
Battelle was the setting for a recent exhibition that was a lot of fun for me. During our intercession between the second and third trimester, I brought 57 students to Battelle to present some examples of projects they’ve been working on, both in class and as extra-curricular activities.
We had models of chemical molecular structures, mechanical contraptions built from designs by DaVinci, robots, marble sorters and mouse-trap race cars. We also had student displays of subjects such as genetics, holocaust experiences, social issues and nutrition. Students came armed with posters, podcasts and movies they had produced. Also represented were some of the after-school clubs such as Journalism, Gaming and STEM Club.
I hope everyone who attended the fair had as much fun as we did. I really enjoyed the comments from staff who stopped to tell me how impressed they were. When we got back to Metro, the students were talking about what a great experience it was.
We flashed a slideshow of the photos taken at the fair on our mounted school monitors and I got quite a kick out of seeing kids stop in their tracks to watch and comment about the photos. I wished every one of them had been able to come—but we’ll do it again for sure!
Thanks to Battelle staff for the great turn out and the continued support for our exhibitions!
Carl Kohrt learns about video game creation from Erica Petit at the STEM Fair.
- - Posted March 17, 2008 - -
Diana Wolterman is on a two-year special assignment to Metro High School, where she will play a key role in furthering the collaboration between the private sector and education, including special projects to connect Battelle staff with the activities in the school, assisting with tours and visits, developing and implementing new experience-based curriculum support, and helping to document the process of creating a new STEM-focused learning experience. Diana also will document Battelle’s successes and missteps at Metro to help the organization learn from the experience and make good decisions going forward at Metro and in other educational activities.