Page 155 - 1999.Millard.North

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earntn oars

Throw out the lectures in some science classes to
and get rid of note-taking be- expose students to the uses of
cause experiments were what learned material in the real
students enjoyed the most. world.
Many classes offered hands "The labs in AP Chem-
on experiences to help stu- istry allowed us to see how the
dents gain a better understand- laws of chemistry apply in real
ing of various concepts. Ex- life. They were very conducive
periments were not just for sci- to learning ," junior Cliff Ander-
ence classes, but were also son said.
common in psychology and Other experiments
foods classes. were used to. tests various
Most students agreed people's reactions. Psychol-
that lectures in class could ogy investigations let students
become monotonous after act in a way in which they were
awhile. Experiments allowed not normally accustomed to.
students to break away from "In my psychology
the common classroom learn- class, we went into the hall-
• ing , and discover things on their ways and selected random
• own . people. We were then overly
• "I was in chemistry this friendly to them. We did this
•
• year and we completed sev- test to see how people respond .
• eral labs , such as testing to It was really cool ," senior Den-
• see if a substance was a metal nis McNulty said .
•
• or nonmetal. The labs helped Foods classes allowed
• expand learning opportunities students to become more ex-
•
• by going beyond note-taking. perienced in the kitchen . Stu-
• They gave you a chance for dents spent time in various
•
• hands on activities," junior Gin- units, cooking and baking all
• ger Kamrath said. types of food .
•
• Other science classes "We've made salads,
• also gave studef!!s the chance breads, and pies. I like foods
•
• to work with microscopes and because it is fun , and I like to
• discover things that could not cook. I did not. enjoy doing the
•
• be seen by the naked eye . dishes though," sophomore
• "In botany, we used Carl Druesdow said .
• microscopes to look at cells of Hands-on experi-
•
• microorganisms. On occasion , ments granted students new
• I could see what I am suppose opportunities to learn . Experi-
•
• to. If the stuff inside the cell ments defied general teaching
• • was moving, it makes it easier methods. Students were able
• to spot and identify," senior to discover on their own , allow-
0 /) q- Tiffany Kreider said. ing them to gain new under-
ug. ~aMI WAM.tp.iit' Labs were performed standings.
Juniors Cara Witthaus and Matt Troutman
work in Engli sh I 0. The class had just
reading th e book Th e Car 's Cradle and
were assigned a project about it. photo by
Kelli McMahon

Experiments