ATHOL — Kaylee DeGrace is the Science Department Chair and teaches biology. Anne Souza teaches physics and she was the staff member for the month of October. Their teaching methods exemplify the Athol High School science department’s focus on the 8 Practices promoted by the Department of Elementary Secondary Education, (DESE) with its strong sense of “doing” science.

According to DESE, “All of the practices in grades 9-12 build on preK-8 experiences and progress to more technical and sophisticated applications to the natural and designed world we live in. The integration of science and engineering practices in high school science courses gives students dynamic and relevant opportunities to refine and communicate science understandings to be well prepared for civic life, postsecondary education and career success.”

DeGrace described a project that her students in her biology class were working on. They were to figure out the demographics of cancer. The question proposed to the class was, “Do women or men have a higher risk for coming down with cancer?’’ The consensus of the class was that women were at a greater risk due to breast cancer, but by researching the topic, they discovered that, actually, men are at a greater risk due to their age, race and environments that they work in and their smoking habits. DeGrace challenges her students by encouraging them to explain their answers and to do a great amount of research. She answers all of their questions, no matter if the questions are pertinent to the topic being discussed or not.

Souza’s students participate in many lab experiments. She is constantly encouraging the students to explain why things work, such as motion, friction, etc. They use magnets, gears and other numerous gadgets to increase their knowledge about physics.

In both classes, students work in pairs or groups. They are asked thought-provoking questions by their teachers that they will answer by using their critical thinking skills and by drawing upon their previous experiences in not only school, but in their everyday lives. Because of the structure of their group work, the students learn to understand how they fit with one another with the knowledge that they bring from their experiences and also to learn to listen to and have a difference of opinion. They learn to encourage one another and to respect one another’s opinions and thoughts.

De Grace and Souza both explain to their students about the opportunities that the students will have in choosing college and programs that they will want to study after high school. Both teachers talk to their students about careers such as video, media, art, teaching, baking, architecture design, fashion, or mechanics as they will all be using some form of scientific knowledge that they have learned in high school and college every day in their chosen careers.

The students were all eagerly listening and participating in their discussions and labs and were busy “doing” science.

Joanne Davidson is the newsletter developer for Athol Royalston Regional School District.