Teacher Explores New Ways To Bring Hands-On Science Fun To Local Students

Arkansas Discovery Network, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, sends Bentonville High School science teacher to world-renowned Teacher Institute

Bentonville, AR (August 10, 2006) – The Secret Science Ingredient was fruit. By the time the Iron Science Teacher competition was over, Gail Hayes, a science teacher at Bentonville High School in Bentonville, AR, had witnessed some unconventional, yet effective ways to use fruit to teach science. During the competition, oranges became conductors for electricity, berries were used to tie-dye t-shirts, and a lemon cake was baked in a glass cup using electrified spoons.

The Arkansas Discovery Network, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, chose Hayes and seven other Arkansas educators to participate in the renowned, four-week Teacher Institute at the Exploratorium museum this summer. Iron Science competitions were just one of the wild, sometimes wacky, but always-interesting experiments, competitions and lessons that Hayes experienced during the training she received in San Francisco.

Besides being interviewed on television and quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the participating teachers experienced a rich mix of hands-on activities to invigorate their classroom lessons. They have come back to Arkansas with new ways to make science more involving for students, using activities and materials that cost very little – certainly a boon to any school budget. In all, Hayes spent a total of 110 hours over the four weeks immersed in inquiry learning techniques.

Gail Hayes, a special education teacher at Bentonville High School for 5 years, teaches Science to 9th – 12th graders. She has already been sharing ideas and lessons from the Institute. “What a wonderful summer program for teachers! I know that what I learned will reach students that have never liked science before. The different strategies and inquiry methods will let the students experience science first hand. They will be able to figure out and discuss what they learned because of their experiences with it first hand. The displays that we were able to make for our classrooms are just miniature versions of the hands on displays in the Exploratorium’s Institute only on a teacher’s budget. I will be able to let my students make and take home their own models, they will be able to explain what is going on AND why. This will be such a boost to their confidence and self-esteem too.”

Hayes, a special education teacher at Bentonville High School for 5 years, teaches Science to 9th – 12th graders. She has already been sharing ideas and lessons from the Institute. “What a wonderful summer program for teachers! I know that what I learned will reach students that have never liked science before. The different strategies and inquiry methods will let the students experience science first hand. They will be able to figure out and discuss what they learned because of their experiences with it first hand. The displays that we were able to make for our classrooms are just miniature versions of the hands on displays in the Exploratorium’s Institute only on a teacher’s budget. I will be able to let my students make and take home their own models; they will be able to explain what is going on AND why. This will be such a boost to their confidence and self-esteem too.”

Teacher outreach programs such as this are just one aspect of the Arkansas Discovery Network’s mission. The first program of its kind in the nation, the Arkansas Discovery Network will tour innovative teaching exhibits among seven local member museums, making a hands-on, interactive museum experience more accessible to all the state’s 498,000 school children and their families.

About the Arkansas Discovery Network
The Arkansas Discovery Network, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, works to strengthen partner museums by sharing resources and expanding discovery learning opportunities throughout the state. Member museums include the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Texarkana Museum System in Texarkana, Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro and the University of Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education in Fayetteville. Visit the website at www.arkansasdiscoverynetwork.org.

About the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, headquartered in Las Vegas, is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. The Foundation is one of the 50 largest private foundations in the United States.

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