Tyhree teaches 2nd graders
Zambian students are required to pass a series of tests in order to continue education past the seventh grade. The science portion of the exam includes a significant section on electricity. However, the students in this area of Zambia live in homes and attend a school without electricity. Furthermore, the schools lack lab resources. As a result, students are expected to answer questions about a science concept with very limited first-hand knowledge. Teachers at the Malambo School asked us to create a set of lessons on electricity to help solve this problem. Before leaving for Zambia, Liza, Elizabeth, and I created a set of 5 science experiments to help students discover the key concepts.
Yecenia teaches about electricity
Yesterday, all students, grade 1 through grade 7, completed a series of hands-on electricity experiments. They were able to build actual circuits. Through these labs, students were able to experiment with the concepts of electricity, voltage, resistance, conductors, and insulators. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I worked with 2nd and 4th grade students. The language barrier prevented us from having any meaningful discussion about the material. Instead, all teaching and learning was entirely reliant upon experimentation and discovery (with the occasional translation). The students had the tools required to conduct their own science experiments. American students and teachers were in each group to help guide students as needed. Children are naturally inquisitive. The students were mesmerized by the bright light bulbs as they built their circuits. Through experimentation, students discovered that circuits must be closed, that increasing voltage would increase the brightness of a bulb, that a resistor would decrease the brightness of a bulb and that conductors and insulators can increase or decrease voltage.
Nina helps the students light a bulb
Students were so excited to discover something new and share their knowledge with their classmates, pointing and excitedly sharing their discovery with their peers. It was science at its best – learning by discovery. The students at Malambo (and the others schools we have visited) rarely get to learn this way. With a lack of lab resources, science has become a list of facts to be memorized. It was powerful that we were able to create a different type of learning experience for students. In addition, the teachers now all have the resources to continue to teach electricity as a laboratory based lesson.
Lauren, a teacher at The SEED Public Charter School