Renton teachers learn ABCs of science

The mealworms rolled around paper plates, spread out on a table strewed with writing paper. The students passed mealworms back and forth, giggling as the worms crawled across their hands.

"What else do we need to give our mealworms?" teacher Pamela Kraus asked.

"Cotton balls, for comfort?" one student offered. The easy stuff, like food, water and shelter, had already been mentioned, but Kraus, a research scientist, wanted more out of her class of about 30 teachers and staff members from Renton elementary schools.

For the day, the teachers were learning as if they were the students they would be teaching in the fall.

This reversal of roles was made possible by the Center for Inquiry Science (CIS), a division of the Institute for Systems Biology, a North Lake Union biotech firm.

The center designed this program with the Renton School District, an annual summer series funded through a five-year, $721,000 grant from the Maryland-based Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Passing the science portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning will be required for graduation beginning with the class of 2013, and public-school administrators and teachers are devoting more attention to science education. Last year, the state Board of Education reviewed the state's science program and released recommendations for improvement.

"The driving force in [the review] is to increase student learning in the sciences, one student at a time," said Mary McClellan, the state science director for teaching and learning. "A marker for that would be an increase in the WASL."

About 36 percent of the state's high-school sophomores passed the 2007 science WASL; just under one-fourth of Renton's sophomores passed the science WASL that year. Renton district officials hope the grant program will help boost students' understanding of science.

"Ultimately, the goal [for the program] is having students engaged in science," said Jane Goetz, the Renton district's director of curriculum and professional development. "A result of that is students will do well on the state assessment."

Learning the basics

Through the CIS program, outside scientists, such as those from the University of Washington, will train at least one staff member from each Renton elementary school to be their school's go-to person for teachers with questions about science lessons.

Because elementary teachers teach all subjects, many don't have a science background. "Oftentimes, when you're a classroom teacher, you get isolated in there. With this program, you get to see how you fit into the bigger system," said Dana Riley Black, CIS director.

Teaching science at the elementary level is especially important, because if children don't learn the basics of science early, they are less likely to learn them later on.

"They think: 'I'm in high school, I don't want to be doing that elementary stuff,' " said Jerome Patoux, a UW research associate who helped instruct the Renton teachers.

The CIS program is a part of a larger instructional shift toward "inquiry science." A more holistic approach to science, the method encourages students to ask questions and apply what they've learned rather than just memorize facts or conduct experiments.

Inquiry science, however, isn't new. The UW helped create the center in 1992 to promote inquiry science in Seattle schools. Teachers around the country already were moving away from traditional methods of teaching to try to get students involved in their own learning.

"[Inquiry science] is kind of an evolution," said Jerry Kent, a science teacher in the Renton School District for 52 years. "In the '90s, it was more about procedure, how you do science. Now it's hands-on, minds-on."

Kent said the first major change in K-12 science teaching came in the 1950s, when teachers began to allow their students to participate in the scientific process, instead of simply lecturing them about it.

Teachers began to do in-class experiments to try to increase student understanding, but this left students with only a "how-to" knowledge of science. Kent and other Seattle-area teachers started to try other methods to engage students more.

The National Science Education Standards, released in 1996, focused on inquiry-based science and creating scientific curiosity inside and outside the classroom.

"Teachers had defined inquiry as following a cookbook experiment," said Thomas Keller of the National Academy of Sciences, who oversaw the creation of the national standards. "The whole point about inquiry is that kids are asking real questions. The teacher is supposed to make sure those questions go toward real science."

In the mock fifth-grade class last week, Kraus didn't give her students information about mealworms, instead relying on discussion, so the students would discover what they needed to know on their own.

It took a few tries.

Someone suggested sunlight. Kraus winced.

"No, not quite." She tried again.

"What's something everything needs? We're using it right now ... "

"Air!" several shouted. Kraus smiled, finally satisfied.

Jeff Raderstrong: 206-464-3301 or jraderstrong@seattletimes.com