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Article published November 21, 2003

Science Explorers learn so they can teach
Jason Monroe

They would have to learn it, then they would have to teach it.

Students from across the region gathered Thursday at the Montrose County Fairgrounds to learn about sonar, the vastness of the galaxy and a world that can only be seen under a high-powered microscope as part of the University of Colorado Science Explorers program.

Science Explorers is a program that travels throughout the state and gives students an opportunity to learn something new and then be able to share that newfound knowledge with their classmates.

"They are supposed to go back with their teacher and teach the workshop to the rest of the students who couldn't come," said Science Explorers Program Director Lannie Hagan. "There are groups from all over the region: Telluride, home school, Montrose and Olathe. Each year we change our topic, and this year it's ŒHow in the World: From the Nanoworld to the Galaxies,'" she said.

The program also provides a 100-plus page manual with experiments and learning tools to help the students and the participating teachers re-teach the experiments to the rest of the class.

"What is unique about this is that a teacher becomes a co-learner with the students," said Gifted and Talented Teacher Fred Brown. "The kids have the responsibility to go back and share this with their classmates. What I appreciate most about science explorers is that this - all the things they use - are readily available and easy to get and they are excellent representations and samples of the experiments. Without a doubt, this is some of the best curricular materials that have ever come out."

The program has come to Montrose on several occasions, and the topics have varied from space to weather and crime science, said Montrose County Fairgrounds Manager Jim Mitchell.

"They have done them with weather, they have done them with forensics, all sorts of things. It's more than an introduction because most of these kids are into this to begin with," he said.

The students participated in several experiments, including throwing a beeping tennis ball to investigate the Doppler effect, which is caused by a moving source of sound wave generation.

"We hooked up a battery and a buzzer to a tennis ball to see how pitch changes the way it gets closer and farther away from you," said Oak Grove Elementary School Fifth Grader Rebecca deVergie.

The 22 groups cycled through the three stations, the nanoworld, galaxies, and sonar and sound, and will return to their classrooms and begin teaching the materials to their fellow students starting next week.

"Now I know how a teacher feels," said Oak Grove fifth-grader Dustin Livingston. "We're going to get a kit and everything."