November 9, 2021:
The Dorset School’s art teacher, David Paarlberg-Kvam understood that he needed to come up with a project that would recharge students at the start of school. This school year in particular, in the midst of a difficult pandemic, when many students were returning to the routines and demands of the classroom. He wanted to partner with an equally enthusiastic colleague. Enter sixth grade science teacher, Karli Love. “We agreed that we needed to engage our students in real learning at the start of school with all the best tools: research, teamwork, hands-on engineering, and a large scale installation,” says Paarlberg-Kvam. “We needed to create a community spectacle for our school.”
That they did. “I wouldn’t say I liked this project,” observed one student, who captured the mood of the class, “I loved this project.
The two instructors, along with all the sixth graders, created a larger-than-life, museum-like exhibit featuring a macroscopic animal cell. “Sixth grade science introduces the study of cells,” says Love. “It’s a foundation for future work in biology that runs through middle school into high school. One goal for our project was to make an impression that the students could not forget.”
Neither could adults.
“This project is just one example of how our teachers at all our schools are creating new ways to energize learning when given the time and space to create,” says Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU) Superintendent, Randi Lowe. “It’s magical moments like this that showcase the value of teaching.”
At the beginning of the school year, the sixth grade students immediately set to work on two fronts. In Love’s classroom, they were scientists, researching animal cells with special attention to all its components (organelles) and how they work together. With Paarlberg-Kvam, they were artists, using their new science knowledge to design and create three-dimensional plaster of Paris replicas of the cell’s organelles, which were painted in reds, greens, oranges and more. “One important facet of this project,” noted Paarlberg-Kvam, “is how art can enhance learning.”
While work in the classroom and studio continued, Paarlberg-Kvam started his own task of constructing a dome, a circular macro cell that would top out at eight feet high and some 10 feet in diameter. This would serve as the outside shell that inside would contain all the student-created components of the cell. Since the exhibit would be placed outdoors, it would also have to withstand the winds and rain of a tempestuous Vermont Fall.
As the display took shape, it generated quite the buzz at TDS. “One indicator of my students’ involvement was that they gave up their free time at recess to work with Mr. PK on building the cell,” says Love. “They were proud of the whole project that was on everyone’s radar.”
In addition to science and art, the students also incorporated technology and English language arts (ELA) into their installation. They wanted a real gallery-like exhibit, where visitors could conduct their own tour inside the cell. Quick Response (QR) codes were created so visitors could use their mobile phones to scan to gain access to an audio link, explaining what they were seeing. When the macroscopic cell was complete, it included over a dozen components inside, each with a QR and printed statement.
“The students created the QRs, wrote the scripts, and recorded the message,” says Love. “As one ELA assignment, they were asked to use metaphors and similes to explain the purpose of each organelle.” Metaphors and similes (“The mitochondria is like the engine of a vehicle.”) were both recorded on audio and transcribed on cards that visitors could read while visiting the cell.
By the end of October, the six graders were ready to showcase the cellular dome to fellow students, families, and staff. They set up guided tours for children in grades K-8. Parents were given their own personal journey through the cell dome at each student’s parent teacher conference. A formal classroom discussion, meanwhile, was held with Superintendent Lowe and TDS Principal, Rosanna Moran.
The undeniable pride of the sixth grade science students as they presented their project to their audience was palpable. "They debated and argued points and maintained a level of curiosity and enthusiasm that delighted me,” says Lowe. “I could have stayed there all day.”
And why not? Who would want to miss a spectacle?
