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   Questions, objectives, vocabulary and reminder notes fill the whiteboard of the fifth-grade science classroom at Barrington Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District. Led by Paris Bouchard, fifth-grade students study science each day, working in small groups, writing in science journals, asking questions and discussing possible answers.

As class begins, the students look to the whiteboard for the Question of the Day and write their answers in a notebook. The question read: The sun shines in space as it does on Earth. Yet it is freezing cold in space. What causes the difference?

The daily objective explains the focus of the lesson. “Students will understand that the seasons affect weather.”

The Word of the Day – freezing point – and its definition connects vocabulary to the lesson.

A television on a cart is tuned to the Weather Channel. A tropical storm is forming in the Atlantic Ocean near Puerto Rico. Throughout the lesson, Bouchard points to the TV and asks the students to look at the weather patterns highlighted on the screen.

Each student has a booklet titled “Simply Science.” The booklet is used to take notes and ask questions that Bouchard reviews regularly. After writing their entries, the discussion on the Question of the Day begins.

“Let’s answer the question,” Bouchard begins, asking students to share their thoughts.

“Is it because there is no atmosphere?” a student asks.

“Because there’s no oxygen,” another responded.

“Good,” said Bouchard. “The atmosphere keeps everything in,” he explained. “Water vapor is in the air and it heats up. Does space have water vapor?”

“No,” the class replied.

“So if there’s nothing to heat up, it can’t get warm, which is why it is cold in space,” said Bouchard.

Next, he held up a cookbook. Then he asked, “Why can I use a cookbook for seasons?”

There wasn’t much of a response, so then he talked about what he ate the night before.    “Last night, I had squash for dinner. What season do we eat squash?”

“In the fall,” someone answered.

“OK. What time of year can we grow tomatoes in the yard?” Bouchard asked. The class agreed that summer is the best time for tomatoes, not January.

The cookbook became an example of the seasons and weather and what types of food grow best throughout the year. Bouchard then asked the class to think about what would happen if the seasons stopped. Students wrote down their thoughts and then shared them by reading aloud to the class.

“If the seasons stopped, it would impact my life because if we didn’t have certain seasons, we wouldn’t have certain things like crops.”

“Our food wouldn’t grow. There would be no days because the earth wouldn’t spin and there wouldn’t be any seasons.”

“If the seasons stopped, animals couldn’t eat plants and they would die.”

“If the seasons stopped, it would be a problem. We wouldn’t be able to tell the weather outside and animals would die.”

Bouchard praised the students for their thoughtful answers, allowed a few more questions and then moved on to another activity focused on the phases of the moon. Using a flashlight, an index card and working in cooperative groups, the students examined how light affects different positions of the card. In their science journals, students took notes and drew pictures of their observations.

Using journals in science is a way to enhance literacy, a focus of District curriculum, as well as improve understanding. Bouchard said it is also a way to help prepare the fifth-graders for the Missouri Assessment Program test in the spring. Fifth-grade students throughout the state test in communication arts, math and science. Using a variety of resources to enhance curriculum lessons is an example of District values of implementing innovative solutions while dismantling ideas that no longer work for students, and placing the education and well-being of students above all other considerations.

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