Scenes from Pueblo Science Guyana Workshop 2015

PUEBLO SCIENCE WORKSHOP

ST STANISLAUS COLLEGE IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

AUGUST 19-21,2015

Elephant tooth paste?  Electricity from potato and charcoal? Lighting a LED using humans as conductors?

Impossible you may say. But had you been at the Pueblo Science workshop organized by the Saint Stanislaus College and the College Alumni Toronto Chapter, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education from 19th August to 21st August, 2015, you may think differently.

Dr. Mayrose Salvador and her team from the University of Toronto, Canada led an exciting three days of exploration that left many of us science teachers in awe. Dr Salvador’s team allowed us to further build on the notion that science is an exciting, hands on subject and that we should not be afraid to venture out of the classroom.

The team divided the teachers, approximately (75), into five groups in order to accomplish their tasks. On the first day the groups were tasked with completing a dome using nothing but discarded newspapers. It was quite a challenge since the newspaper needed to be rolled as tightly as possible. For some of us it was quite a disaster but for the team that finished first it was an astonishing victory.

The first station dealt with enzyme reaction where we observed how different plant enzymes reacted under the same condition.

The second work station taught us all about electrical engineering. To our amazement, we observed that a LED bulb can be lit using aluminum foil and four persons as conductors.

Station three exhibited that electricity can be generated using simple materials such as potato, charcoal and salt water. We also grappled a bit at everybody’s favorite topic of REDOX reactions. Who knew it was that simple?

Testing foods to examine their nutrient content was the aim of station four. We were able to examine everyday foods and test to see whether or not they contained the nutrients they claim to have. The teachers then had the opportunity of constructing a windmill at station (5) using everyday materials.

In the afternoon session of day two we were treated to a sweet indulgence…….ICE CREAM! Yes ice cream and no we did not purchase it, we MADE it. Yes we did and it was sweet victory to see our end products. This activity brought the child out of most of us and we kicked our buckets around to form the ice cream. It was reasonably a work out.

On day three we had to construct a hymac. This piece of fine machinery was constructed using cardboard, syringes, water, paper clips and glue. It was amazing to see our creations at work. Later in the day we were treated to a fine piece of exhibition by our facilitators and participants were rewarded with pens.

Finally, Dr Salvador put the participants to the test. The main objective here was to see how much of what was conveyed to us was actually learnt. Her team designed a race to challenge each group to recall the information that was fed to us. As you can imagine it was a spectacle to see the teachers running from station to station to complete each tasks. The Saint Stanislaus College forum became a battlefield for success, but only one group can emerge victorious and that was group (5). Please note that group five’s dome collapsed like a sack of potatoes and they were also the last to finish their hymac. It goes to show that not all fancy gallops win race. The group was rewarded with a pack of Oreos but self satisfaction was the ultimate victory.

I must not forget to mention that the stomachs of participants’ were well rewarded over the three day period. The workshop came to a close with a fitting closing ceremony where the teachers were rewarded with certificates of participation.

Overall, I do not believe that any of the teachers who attended the workshop had complaints of any sort since the knowledge and skills acquired as a result of our engagement are applicable to our day-to-day teaching of science in our respective school. We are indeed very grateful for the opportunity to have been exposed to the Pueblo Science Workshop.

Submitted by: Ms Deokie Mohan. (SSC Sc. Teacher)

Scenes from Pueblo Science Workshop

August 19-21, 2015. @ SSC.