Check out this story and others in the latest issue of The Pinnacle, The Norman Howard School's community newsletter:
Jared examines physical evidence collected from a staged crime scene at The Norman Howard School. Students have learned aspects of collecting and examining trace and physical evidence in Forensics Class at NHS.
Celebrating Science Outside of the Classroom
The Norman Howard School science department is committed to taking students outside of the classroom to gain firsthand experience as they learn about our environment and explore issues related to sustainability.
Each fall our living environment class collaborates with Hobart College and participates in “Science on Seneca.” Out on the boat students do soil dredges of the lake bottom; test the water for dissolved oxygen and chlorine; use lake samples to do microbe analyses; calculate water visibility; and take meteorological measurements. In addition students are able to explore the campus and learn about environmental research that is happening at Hobart-William Smith.
Forensics is a new course that enables students to investigate “crime scenes” and collect data to determine culpability. For example, students obtained and examined evidence from a staged car break-in, including collecting photographic documentation of the crime scene and immediate surrounding areas; obtaining eye witness testimony; scanning the car for trace evidence that was subsequently examined and analyzed; using a dusting kit to gather latent fingerprints and then compare them to known prints gathered from the popula-tion prior to the “crime.”
Last spring, students built raised beds and a straw greenhouse and erected a fence for the NHS organic vegetable and herb garden. Despite the drought, students were able to harvest vegetables until the frost and cooked a delicious harvest meal to celebrate their accomplishments!
Each of these experiences enables our students to connect what they learn in the classroom to authentic settings and activities, building strong cognitive connections and facilitating memory and learning.
Please view Middle School and High School subjects and topics covered, and experience more on learning Outside the Classroom. Stay tuned for future features on our remarkable and unique science program.
You can read the Winter 2016-17 Pinnacle, and recent past newsletters here >> http://www.normanhoward.org/happening-at-nhs >>