On Friday, January 6th, The June Buchanan School’s Middle School Science students traveled to the East Kentucky Science Center in Prestonsburg, KY for the beginning of their science class unit, “Amazing Space.” The students have begun engaging in a collaborative unit designed by Middle School Science instructor Karen Bailey and Spanish instructor Tamara Kunkel to teach key earth-space concepts.
JBS students are learning the various properties of planet Earth, motions of celestial bodies, characteristics of the moon, moon phases, and key facts about the planets, stars, and much more in English and in Spanish! Students have and will be doing a plethora of learning activities, some of which include the design of a Wikispace. The Wikispace will include students’ self-made virtual tours of the solar system and student work throughout the unit. In addition, students will be researching topics of interest and blogging about their finds concerning black holes, life on other planets, current space missions, and more!
In order to kick off this unit of study, students visited the Science Center to engage in a series of programs, such as the Energy Exhibit, Comets in the Classroom, Oasis in Space planetarium show, and a laser show titled Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. At the end of the unit, students will travel to the Challenger Learning Center in Hazard, KY to take on the role of astronauts in a simulated mission. Instructor Karen Bailey states, “Hands-on learning and cross curriculum connections truly make the content we are learning stick with students. I am thrilled that students are blessed to be so close to incredible space resources in this region.”