Ohio State Materials Campers Bring Materials Science to the High School Classroom
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The annual ASM Materials Camp was held in June at the Ohio State University for junior high and high school teachers across the nation.
The weeklong camp, hosted by Ohio State and the ASM Materials Education Foundation, featured workshops focused on how to incorporate materials science into junior high and high school curricula. It was also geared toward exposing students to careers in STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The ASM Materials Camp began in 2006, and it has since inspired many high schools across the state to incorporate materials science courses in their programs, including Westerville North, South, and Central, Upper Arlington, and Thomas Worthington.
Alex La Gamba has taught for four years at St. Cecilia Catholic School in Toronto, ON, and attended the ASM Materials Camp this summer. He said he added a camp project into the school’s science curriculum called “Oobleck,” which involves mixing cornstarch and water. He recently tested it out with his students.
“The students were fascinated by the properties of ‘Oobleck’,” La Gamba said. “I had them play catch with it outside to notice its characteristics. I had them squeeze it in their hands, turn it into a ball, as well as a variety of other things to see its non-Newtonian properties.”
Mary Roberts is about to begin her 30th year of teaching in the North Thurston Public School District in Lacey, WA. One of her projects, she said, is set to involve melting tin, pouring it down a “V”-shaped track made of aluminum, and learning about expansion and contraction. Roberts said she wants to thank Ohio State for hosting the ASM Materials Camp.
“It is truly an invaluable experience and one of the very best learning experiences I have participated in,” she said.
Both La Gamba and Roberts said they believe materials science should be a required course for students.
“This is the way that most students learn best,” Roberts said. “Our country needs to be producing more students in the engineering-type fields, and this is the way we are going to do it. Or we can just keeping talking about it.”
“I think materials science should be a full-year course,” La Gamba said. “It is a topic that we must promote as teachers and globally in order to protect our infrastructure."
Article Contributed by Elizabeth Garabedian
The weeklong camp, hosted by Ohio State and the ASM Materials Education Foundation, featured workshops focused on how to incorporate materials science into junior high and high school curricula. It was also geared toward exposing students to careers in STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The ASM Materials Camp began in 2006, and it has since inspired many high schools across the state to incorporate materials science courses in their programs, including Westerville North, South, and Central, Upper Arlington, and Thomas Worthington.
Alex La Gamba has taught for four years at St. Cecilia Catholic School in Toronto, ON, and attended the ASM Materials Camp this summer. He said he added a camp project into the school’s science curriculum called “Oobleck,” which involves mixing cornstarch and water. He recently tested it out with his students.
“The students were fascinated by the properties of ‘Oobleck’,” La Gamba said. “I had them play catch with it outside to notice its characteristics. I had them squeeze it in their hands, turn it into a ball, as well as a variety of other things to see its non-Newtonian properties.”
Mary Roberts is about to begin her 30th year of teaching in the North Thurston Public School District in Lacey, WA. One of her projects, she said, is set to involve melting tin, pouring it down a “V”-shaped track made of aluminum, and learning about expansion and contraction. Roberts said she wants to thank Ohio State for hosting the ASM Materials Camp.
“It is truly an invaluable experience and one of the very best learning experiences I have participated in,” she said.
Both La Gamba and Roberts said they believe materials science should be a required course for students.
“This is the way that most students learn best,” Roberts said. “Our country needs to be producing more students in the engineering-type fields, and this is the way we are going to do it. Or we can just keeping talking about it.”
“I think materials science should be a full-year course,” La Gamba said. “It is a topic that we must promote as teachers and globally in order to protect our infrastructure."
Article Contributed by Elizabeth Garabedian