Skyview High School students learn chemistry and physics using simulations, experimentation, problem solving skills, and web design. Dynamic activities and creative topics, such as the physics of bubbles, keep students motivated to learn difficult concepts. Students report on the chemistry principles of toys via their own web pages . Skrutvold's collaborations with elementary schools and his curriculum are also displayed on-line . 1999-2000 Award Recipients and Research Fellows Heather Cassidy and Diane Gibson teach 8th grade at Spokane's Chase Middle School, where their students use technology to gather and compile wildlife data, submit it to University of Washington scientists, and publish a web site.
Students use technology to research and present their findings.
They also learn math and writing concepts by creating monsters and using technical language to describe in detail how to draw them. They then exchange descriptions with partner classes in South Africa, West Virginia, and Massachusetts, and each class does its best to draw the monster from a description. Students use technology to study, analyze and explain the solar system, earth's movements, time and calendars, latitude and longitude, and climates. Currently they are investigating the relationship between the angle of the sun's rays and the length of shadows in Chelan and other parts of the world, collecting shadow information from email pals in Australia and Alaska. Diane Petersen has partnered her Waterville Elementary 4th and 5th graders with 27 local farmers to collect, record, and analyze data on short-horned lizards in this rural Douglas County community.