Science Camp

Last week, I saw a group of 80-pound preteen girls each demolish the most mountainous plates of rice I had ever seen. Then they went back for seconds. Then they looked through a microscope for the first time in their lives, after having studied them and memorized the names of all their parts over the past school year without ever having had the opportunity to see the real thing in person. 5 volunteers and I had organized a science camp for 7th and 8th grade students, and 36 girls and boys spent 5 days learning the scientific method and doing hands-on experiments covering topics they learned about in their science and physics class, but never got to observe for themselves.

Mountainous plates of rice

Session topics included optics, circuits, ecology, dissection, astronomy, and water purification methods, among others. Students also had an hour each day to work on a science fair project, in which each group was assigned a question like "how does fire change air pressure?" They received assigned materials, such as a candle, matches, water, and a container, and they had to figure out how to use the materials to demonstrate the principle, then present it to the rest of the participants on the last day.

Jean doing "Science"

The whole thing went amazingly smoothly. I was impressed by the quality of the students, especially the girls. Class participation is normally dominated by boys, but the females really took charge this time. Each volunteer brought a Burkinabe counterpart, another science teacher from their school, with them, and for mine, I brought a physics/chemistry teacher from my school named Jean. I knew Jean was really motivated, but still I was impressed at how well he did with controlling classrooms and giving clear explanations that combined with student participation.

Field trip

In the end, I think the students really appreciated the opportunity for hands-on learning, which is a huge departure for the style of education in Burkina that focuses on rote memorization and note taking. For me, it was a huge relief to work with motivated students in manageable class sizes. It was an inspiration for the coming year. Classes start in less than 2 weeks, so here we go!

Frog dissection

Chicken dissection/dinner preparation