Nurture an Open Mind: Students Develop Their STEM Skills at The Bush School

Last semester, Lower School students took a two-night trip to Outdoor Volcano School at the Mount St. Helens Science and Learning Center. Students enjoyed hands-on lessons and had the opportunity to explore the landscape during hikes, making observations and learning about the mountain's eruptive history and the ecology of the blast zone. Students also had the opportunity to plot volcano locations on a world map, leading them to discover that volcanoes form a “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean.

“Before our visit, students were involved in various scientific investigations to deepen their knowledge and spark curiosity about volcanoes,” shared Michele Shaffer, Lower School Faculty. “In class, students engaged in a lab in which they compared two types of "lava" -- thin and thick. They used this information to figure out why volcanoes have different shapes and how the type of lava explains why some volcanoes explode.”

 

In Middle School Science, several guest speakers visited students and shared their experiences related to the students’ studies of the human body. Dr. Lindi Rubadiri-Mujugira, Director for STEM Education at the University of Washington (UW), lent a hand to students working on projects for their STEM Case, in which students choose a community problem and build a project that offers solutions to the problem. They were also taught by Dr. Lisa C. Olmos de Koo, an eye surgeon at UW and a Bush parent, who assisted in leading a cow eye dissection. Students were highly engaged in learning from various subject matter experts about their professional lives and their paths to reaching their career goals.

“One of my students’ parents, Dr. Joneschild, is a hand surgeon who works for the Seattle Hand Surgery Group,” said Joon Um, Middle School Science Faculty. “She gave a lesson on the skeletal and muscular systems and showed us examples of X-rays and injuries. It was an awesome opportunity to show the kids how this can apply to them in the real world.” 

 

Upper School students in Data Science made a presidential election prediction model using a Monte Carlo simulation code in Python, a programming language used for building software and websites, data analysis, and artificial intelligence. Using their analytical skills, they determined the most relevant polls and figured out how a Monte Carlo simulation works by examining popular prediction modelers like 538 and the Economist. 

 

“Students were at the edge of their ability but really pursued the challenge due to its relevance,” shared Christine Miller, Upper School Math faculty. “After the election, we discussed their models and whether they felt they were valid. One student said, ‘I was talking with my family about the presidential election results and my parent was surprised by how the electoral votes played out. I remembered the work we did and told them it was actually not that improbable of an outcome.’”

 

The Upper School Math Analysis course completed a series of projects in their transformations unit, which involved creating an original work of art using function graphs. This project tested their investigative, creative, and teamwork skills.

 

“They have been learning how to translate (move left, right, up, and down), reflect over axes, and scale the graphs of functions by manipulating their equations,” shared Upper School Math faculty Tom Bergeron. “The students used this knowledge to “draw” pictures, which they printed, framed, and decorated the hallways with.”

 

The Multivariable Calculus classes completed a project that involved small groups creating a scavenger hunt for classmates to solve. Each question on the scavenger hunt consisted of a calculus question whose answer was a vector. The students converted these vectors into cardinal directions and distances that they followed to find the next clue. 

“This was a lot of fun, in addition to helping the students practice their differentiation and vector skills forwards and backward,” Tom added.

Students in Upper School Science Faculty Cecile Meister’s course dissected fascinating information about cephalopods and other marine life. They then had the opportunity to dissect and cook a squid themselves. Afterward, they visited the Seattle Aquarium to see live cephalopod interactions in their aquatic habitat. 

“In Marine Biology, we also created ocean currents using differences in water temperature and salinity, built plankton models, looked at plankton under the microscope, dissected sharks, and conducted research on giant marine reptiles from the Mesozoic era,” Cecile shared.  “In the course “Life on Land,” we examined giant grasshoppers, dissected frogs and snakes, studied bird skeletons, and even examined their feathers under the microscope.”

It’s no surprise that integrating a STEM curriculum is essential for a multitude of reasons; however, the STEM faculty at Bush share reasons why they believe it’s so imperative for students’ learning and growth: 

“STEM tells us how stuff works,” shared Christine. “When you experience education, you need to be able to experiment, build, break, make mistakes, and try again. It is an essential part of our mission. We, as a community, are curious and passionate learners. Courses like Data Science, Engineer Your World, and the rest of our science/math classes invite students to investigate these subjects and think creatively about solving problems within that field.”

“At the level we teach, STEM, especially mathematics, is when students practice thinking inductively and deductively,” said Tom. “They become better problem-solvers in the mathematics classroom and in their daily lives. This is vital for their future professions and how they understand how the world works.”