Area teachers attend summer science workshop

Jason Wermers/ The Item Teachers identify rocks and minerals Wednesday during an environmental science workshop at Pocalla Springs Elementary School.

By JASON WERMERS
Item Staff Writer
jwermers@theitem.com

It's not summer vacation yet for 24 teachers in Sumter School Districts 2 and 17.

That's because they chose to take part in a two-week Teacher's Environmental Workshop at Pocalla Springs Elementary. The workshop, in its fourth year as a partnership between the Sumter Soil and Water Conservation District and the two school districts, began Tuesday and is scheduled to run through June 22.

At Pocalla, where all third- through fifth-grade instructors who teach math and science have taken part in the workshop, students scored higher on Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test science exams in spring 2008 than their counterparts across District 2 and the state, according to results compiled by Pocalla science coach Bill Austin.

"It's such a huge success," said Barbara Hale, a science laboratory teacher at Kingsbury Elementary. "(Austin) is so successful at getting teachers back in the classroom to use these ideas."

Del Allen, better known as "Diamond Del," was the featured guest Wednesday morning. He showed the teachers how to sift through ore to find specific types of rocks and minerals. He runs a business, "Diamond Del's Gem Mining Adventure," which is based in Mount Pleasant and now has franchises in five states.

Allen imports different types of rocks and minerals — including pyrite (fool's gold), rose quartz and pumice (formed from volcanic ash) — from Brazil. They are mixed with ore, and the ore is washed away in one of his trailers. The students — or in the case of the workshop, the teachers — then collect the specific rocks and minerals they are looking for and, with the help of Diamond Del himself or another expert, identify and display them.

The lesson is designed for third-graders. South Carolina's science standards, which form the basis of what is tested on the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards, require that third-graders, among other things, "classify rocks (including sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic) and soils (including humus, clay, sand and silt) on the basis of their properties," and "identify common minerals on the basis of their properties by using a minerals identification key."

Ella Clark, a first-grade teacher at Pocalla Springs, said this was her favorite part of the workshop during its first couple of days. Even though the lesson doesn't directly apply to first-graders, even they are required to "recognize the composition of the earth," according to the first-grade science standards.

"We do rocks and minerals in first grade," Clark said. "We may not do it this way, but there are some concepts here that are easy to adapt for first grade."

The workshop covers several aspects of environmental science teaching for elementary school teachers, including stormwater runoff, air and weather, and electricity and light. A highlight will be a field trip Thursday to Edisto Interpretive Center and Botany Bay, where instructors will receive tips on how to teach about South Carolina's barrier islands, estuaries and salt marshes.

The workshop is funded in part by a $1,000 grant from the Lowcountry Resource Conservation and Development Council as part of its Youth Environmental Education Grant Program. In 2007 and 2008, District 2 received a Wal-Mart grant to buy cameras for each teacher in the workshop to help them document student activities throughout the year. This year, District 2 has requested a Wal-Mart grant to pay for a combination camera/camcorder for the 2009 course, a request that is pending.

Doris English is about to become a second-grade teacher at Wilder Elementary after teaching fourth grade the past few years.

"I love this," English said of the workshop. "I've wanted to take this class for a couple years. ... I think it's fascinating."

This year is the first time teachers from both districts are taking the workshop at the same time. For the previous two years, Districts 2 and 17 hosted separate workshops, and the first year was primarily a District 2 event with a few District 17 science coaches participating.

Austin, of District 2, said it's a way of preparing for the July 1, 2011, consolidation of the two school districts.

"Science teachers have a lot of things in common," he said. "Science is science, no matter where you are."

Hale, of District 17, added that "consolidating" the workshops allows the science teachers from the two districts to get to know each other before they all become part of one school district.

"All the teachers are getting along great," Hale said. "Both of districts are so small, so teachers within each district know each other. Now we are getting to know other teachers, too."



Contact Staff Writer Jason Wermers at jwermers@theitem. com or (803) 774-1295.