About MAIS SMART

Project Overview

Project Summary

Goals of the Project

Project Purpose

Operational Definitions

Target Population / Region to be Served

Standards

Project AERO Standards

USA National Science Education Standards

USA National Mathematics Standards

USA National English Language Arts Standards

SMART Leadership for Teachers

K-3 Estoril, Portugal

3-6 Paris, France

1-6 Portugal Inquiry

Activities

SmartPLAN Models

Activity / Lesson Links

Family Activities in
Science and Technology (FAST Pacs)

Reference

Science / Math School Resource Suppliers

SMART References

Contact Us

Contact Information

SMART Leadership for Teachers

II. Paris, France
A SMART Pre-Conference and related programs were presented to teachers of Grades 3-6 and school administrators at the Annual MAIS Conference in Paris, France on November 3-7, 2005. Topics included models of math/science activities plus related links to children's literature, school leadership strategies, materials acquisition, and staff development opportunities. Topics included math/science professional links, population sampling, design-redesign technology, use of formulas (rates) in science, microscopic measurement, and others.

A. Program Agenda
  9:30 am Welcome, Introductions, SMART Program Overview, and Leadership

10:00 am Archibald Frisby—Science/Math/ Literature Links

10:30 am Taking a Census of Ants

11:15 am Design Technology with Popcorn Production and Sales

12:15 pm Lunch

  1:15 pm Missing Moths

  2:00 pm Parachutes

  3:00 pm Microscopes, Micro-measurements, and Micro-slides

  4:30 pm Summary and Evaluation

  5:00 pm Close

Each participant received children's books to take back to their classes and schools. Included were Archibald Frisby, 100 Hungry Ants, and How to Hide a Butterfly. All received additional books such as Math Curse, Science Process Skills, Fossils, How to Build a Rocket, and many others. They also kept all the math/science materials and supplies they used in the program—measurers, microscopes, parachutes, plastic ants, and more. Additionally, all received copies of all SMART lesson plans and references including science and math processes, SI measurement units, population samplers, and other classroom useful materials. Further, MAIS teachers and principals were encouraged to participate in related science/math presentations scheduled throughout the conference. Topics included The Odd Couple in Sync: Linking Science and Children's Literature, K-6, Forensics and the Scientific Method, MAIS Science on the Move: Leadership from within MAIS Schools, Take the Force with You, Revealing the Magic of Science through Discrepant Events, Planning the Perfect Murder: Getting Rid of Indifference in Your Middle School Science Classes, The Mysteries of Venn....(Diagrams), and others.

Instructors for the SMART Grades 3-6 Pre-Conference included Dr. Ken Mechling, Dr. Vickie Harry, and Amy Mechling –all of Clarion, Pennsylvania and Sarah Zarzo, Elementary Principal of the American School of Las Palmas.


B. Paris 2005 SMART Project Participants
The following school leaders, teachers and principals, were participants in the MAIS SMART Pre-Conference held in Paris, France on November 4, 2005. Participants included 2 elementary school principals, 3 curriculum coordinators, and 20 teachers of grades 3 to 8. The grade-level teacher participants were further divided by grade level taught: Grade 3-(1), Grade 4 -(7), Grade 5-(8), Grade 6-(2), Grades 4/5-(1), and Grades 7/8-(1). Altogether, a total of 25 teachers and administrators participated in the Paris SMART Pre-Conference. They represented 12 international schools from 6 countries: France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, and the Czech Republic.
 

C. Paris, France 2005 MAIS Project SMART participants in Action
Twenty-five (25) teacher and administrative leaders from 12 different MAIS schools in 6 countries participated in the MAIS SMART Pre-Conference on November 4, 2005 in Paris, France. The sessions began with introductions and a SMART program overview by Dr. Ken Mechling, Project director of SMART. Amy Mechling treated participants to an amusing math/science book titled Archibald Frisby. In it Archibald Frisby is a boy who can't help but investigate the scientific side of ordinary life. Participants enjoyed identifying the math/science connections—the Solar System, electrical charges in a thundercloud, photosynthesis in a leaf, plotting the angle of maximum distance in a ball game, and so on. All participants received a copy of the book.

Next, Dr. Vickie Harry challenged the participants to analyze a discrepant event concerning the volume of cylinders. She used this mind-boggling activity to kick off a population census of ants. Participants designed ways to sample a population of ants and then tried them out, sharing and discussing their results. Dr. Harry finished with reading the children's book, 100 Hungry Ants. Again, all participants received copies for use in their own schools. They were also treated to pieces of ant candy.

Sarah Zarzo, an elementary principal and science leader from the American School of Las Palmas, then led a design-redesign activity on the production and sale of popcorn. She divided the group into 3 teams, each with a specific task. Team 1 designed and conducted an investigation to measure the popping efficiency of an air popper. Team 2 developed a numerical scale for rating the quality of popped corn as a product to be sold. Using one sheet of paper and cellophane tape, Team 3 sought, designed, and tested the "best" popcorn package. Popcorn was a highly interactive session supported by Sarah's descriptions about similar activities done with students at Las Palmas. The activity led to a productive discussion of math/science in consumer product testing and it applicability and value to classroom teaching and learning.

After lunch, Amy Mechling did an activity called Missing Moths in which participants observed, recorded, and graphed the numbers and colors of simulated paper moths taped on a sheet of newspaper. The science topic was camouflage. Most participants did not see newspaper pattern moths that blended into the moth's newspaper environment. Amy then related Missing Moths to the natural selection of peppered moths in England during the Industrial Revolution. All participants then received copies of the children's book, How to Hide a Butterfly.

Dr. Mechling then led a model activity on making and testing parachutes. He began by reading Smoke Jumpers, a story about firefighters who parachute from airplanes to fight forest fires in remote places. The participants constructed and tested parachutes, aiming for landings in safe drop zones. They then identified variables that affected parachute fall, finally calculating the parachutes rate of fall from several different heights.

The final science/math activity was led by Dr. Mechling and Amy Mechling. All participants received hand-held microscopes, 60 X to 100 X in power. They used the microscopes to investigate their environment—clothing, carpeting, jewelry, hair, coins, insect parts, etc. Next, they utilized micro-measures to measure a variety of objects—wire, thread, fingerprint ridges—12 objects in all. They were observed under low power (60 X), then measured and recorded in millimeters or fractions thereof. Most object measurements ranged from .2 millimeters to 1.2 millimeters—microscopic measurements. Finally, using paper and cellophane tape, participants learned how to make permanent microscopic slides.

To close the program, Dr. Mechling summarized the SMART project, encouraging the school leaders to connect math and science, involve children in the processes of science and mathematics, and use children's literature to enhance science and math learning. A variety of children's books were given to participants. Included were Math Curse, How to Build a Rocket, Dinosaurs, The Processes of Science, Science Curriculum Improvement, and many others.

Evaluation from participants showed high satisfaction with the SMART Pre-Conference. On presentation style, content, and educational value, SMART consistently scored 10 or near 10 on a 1-10 scale with 1 being worthless and 10 excellent. Further, throughout the MAIS Conference, SMART participants attended many other science/math related sessions and informally discussed the improvement of science and math curricula in their own schools.

Following are photos of SMART participants engaged in various science and math experiences:
 

Dr. Ken Mechling begins by describing Project SMART to 25 participating teachers, principals, and curriculum coordinators.

Amy Mechling starts off the SMART work of the Pre-Conference with an enthusiastic reading or the children's book, Archibald Frisby.

Dr. Vickie Harry challenges participants with a discrepant event involving predictions and inferences about the volume of 2 cylinders made from the same sized sheets of acetate. After soliciting predictions (most of which were incorrect), Vickie used the formula for calculating the volume of a cylinder to explain the results.

Dr. Harry then had participants estimate the numbers of ants in a population, design a population sampling technique, and compare the relative accuracies of the various sampling methods.

SMART Leadership for Teachers - 3-6 Paris, France - Page 2 ->