WHAT KIDS ARE LEARNING: SCIENCE: Experiment with fun

From dinosaurs to space, curriculum gives students hand-on experiences

LOUIE TRAUB/VIEWVanessa Villalobos, 9, a fourth-grader at Robert Taylor Elementary School, assembles a robot that will have the ability to climb and walk. LOUIE TRAUB/VIEWRobert Taylor Elementary School fifth-grader Gabriel Camacho, 10, works to assemble a robot as teacher Larry Pilon looks on. Advertisement

Two elementary schools in Henderson and Anthem are setting their sights to the future using science.

At Robert Taylor Elementary, 144 Westminster Way, science teacher Larry Pilon is instructing his students on the ways of robotics.

"A robot could do a lot of the human's jobs," Pilon said.

Fifth-grader Micael Maciech created his robot T.W.I.T., which tracks sound, for the program.

"We work on a lot of science experiments, which I think are very cool," Micael said.

Pilon's students also are studying topography, and as a result, have to create models of a mountain, which should reflect correct contour lines and mapping features. Micael said his class is studying erosion in the atmosphere.

"We have to make a little town and then flood it to see where the water takes the sand," Micael said.

Pilon said he tries to tie in the scientific method whenever possible so his students become and stay familiar with the process.

"I want them to get an ability to focus on the larger picture and make a decision as to what type of science they want to get into," Pilon said. "More than anything, I want them to understand failure."

Pilon said a large part of science is just figuring out what doesn't work. He said he wants his students to realize that is part of the process, and to not give up.

"A scientist could tell you 500 ways not to do something, but only one way to do it," Pilon said. "The ultimate goal is to find the correct hypothesis."

Robert Taylor Elementary students also were treated to a visit from NASA earlier this month when the organization docked a traveling exhibit on school grounds.

"It's fun, but I can't understand it, I'm still learning about this," said Regine Jones, a fifth-grader at Robert Taylor.

Children and community members were allowed to tour the facility, which featured information on the moon and Mars, and interact with a special room that simulated walking on the moon.

"We're trying to get mastery at certain grade levels of concepts," said Mary Pike, director of K-12 science and health. "We have to make sure the curriculum covers concepts outlined in the standards."

The Clark County School District crafts its curriculum based on a combination of state standards for education and the district's "power standards."

"There's actually a course syllabus for every grade," Pike said.

Over at Lamping Elementary, 2551 Summit Grove Drive, the 4,000-square-foot McCool Science Center offers students a chance to explore science-related themes without having to leave campus.

Outside the center lies a desert plant area, which is home to greenery native to the Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin deserts. The building has solar panels on one side, and Science Site Director Jim Wright said the school is planning to obtain a wind turbine to demonstrate alternative forms of energy.

Students with an interest in dinosaurs and paleontology can dive into the school's dig, where dinosaur skeleton replicas are hidden and then put back together by the children. The dinosaur section of the McCool center also features wooly mammoth hair and a saber tooth from a saber tooth cat.

Inside the center, Lamping Elementary stores 50 book bags filled with science-related themes that the children can peruse to learn new concepts such as how a seed grows, and FOSS kits allow students to explore subject matter.

"Many of the schools, about 95 percent of them, use (the kits)," Pike said. "They also incorporate literacy and mathematics."

A kitchen area allows the students to learn to "cook with science," and a space station teaches the kids to control and fly a space shuttle through a simulation program donated to the school by NASA. In the control center, three students handle the flight controls while others sit in the "spacecraft" and actually maneuver the simulation.

"If they do it all correctly, the launch sequence starts," Wright said.

Keeping in line with the space theme, Lamping also has an inflatable planetarium for stargazing, and the school hosts special star watching nights about three times a year. Students interested in a more marine-style environment can travel with the school to the Catalina Island Marine Institute to study water-bound creatures.

Wright said the school is planning on building a greenhouse behind its science center, and fourth-graders will be in charge of what plants will go in the house. Kids at Lamping also study the desert tortoise at the school's desert tortoise habitat.

As part of a school requirement, Wright said "every kid that comes to science has to keep a science journal."

No matter whether children in the Henderson area attend Robert Taylor or Lamping, both schools have interesting science programs that will give students something to think about in terms of their science education.