Delview Secondary is hosting two science exhibitions in the coming days to showcase the work of its Grade 8 and 9 students.
On Jan. 20, the public is encouraged to come see the interactive displays of Jonathan Kung and Dave Fernandes’ Science 8 classes and explore how the invisible world interacts with and affects the visible world.
Then, on Jan. 24, come back to learn about the interconnectedness of the Earth with Kung’s Science 9 students. Both events run after school, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Kung said the students were given a broad theme at the start of the year and were asked to each come up with a question they wanted to answer. The idea, he said, was to have them explore topics they were interested in while building the skills required to present their findings.
“The nice thing with open inquiry is that you do get lots of different questions, so it’s really based on things the students are interested in, within the constraint of the theme and within the constraint of space on the wall,” Kung said. “Besides that, it’s up to them how they fill that gap and communicate with the public.”
Delview students Karsten Foster, Oliver Delacruz and Maneeta Gill assemble their project explaining how music affects the brain. Photo credit: James Smith
Topics range from how micro-organisms relate to obesity, to how an MRI machine works, which sunglasses best protect your eyes and how music affects the brain. The students had to not only refine and research their chosen topics, but figure out creative and interactive ways to present the information that go beyond the typical poster board presentation many of us remember from school.
“I think that kind of struggle is important for them to realize that some of this is real stuff, real skills that you need to have. It’s not just me spoon feeding information to you and you spitting it back out to me. You’re working on your own question; you have to be an expert on it,” Kung said.
“I’m trying to find ways to get them better at answering the question in a more scientific way as opposed to what they’re used to. Trying to get that change going has been a struggle but as a teacher I’m finding this far more interesting and a lot of students are far more engaged in their work that they used to be.”