Stars and STEM Stories
Middleport Elementary School, Middleport, NY, United States
GLOBE students at Middleport Elementary School in New York are living examples of what teamwork can accomplish. Students with a wide range of physical and learning challenges and abilities are working cooperatively to learn about their local environment and share their observations through the GLOBE Web site.
"Everybody can do something," says GLOBE Teacher Gail Fuller. She and fellow GLOBE teacher Dave Huntington lead a multi-age inclusion class of fifth- and sixth-graders. The GLOBE science activities work well within the context of a mixture of grade levels, interests, and abilities.
"They all do their part," Ms. Fuller explained. "The kids who need a bigger challenge often direct. They collect data, study, and develop new ideas. Some kids will do very sophisticated science, doing chemical testing and writing to companies about chemicals in the water or the air." The fact that the students are involved in GLOBE for two years is particularly beneficial, she added, as it allows them to become confident in their scientific and analytical abilities.
Several times a year, the Middleport GLOBE students visit the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in nearby Alabama, NY, to make observations of budburst, tree height, and diameter, and to conduct soil sampling. The students enjoy getting into the outdoors, and the refuge staff are excited to get the data the students are collecting!
"This is going to impact their lives, period," Ms. Fuller says. "GLOBE is only the beginning."
14 March 2000