On a blustery Tuesday in January, more than a dozen University of Washington students and 20 first graders poured into the Toys R Us store at Seattle's Northgate Mall. They roamed the aisles in small groups, scrutinizing the merchandise and taking notes. When they emerged nearly an hour later, they were empty-handed but full of ideas.

Industrial Design students Young Chang (center) and Cindy Gordon (second from left) brainstorm with first graders to design uniques toys. Photo by George Scott.

Thus began an unusual partnership between the UW's Industrial Design Program--based in the School of Art--and a first grade class at Laurelhurst Elementary School. Over the next two months, industrial design students visited the first grade class regularly, working collaboratively with the young students to design and produce toys.

The industrial design project is just one example of recent efforts to link the College and the region's elementary schools through hands-on activities. Increasingly, Arts and Sciences faculty, staff, and students are sharing their enthusiasm and expertise with younger audiences.

"There is a growing awareness that we can be a valuable resource for the schools and that it is, in fact, our responsibility to do so," says Dean John Simpson. "What's wonderful about such outreach efforts is that the UW participants invariably learn as much from the experience as their grade school counterparts."

First Graders as Clients and Collaborators
Industrial Design Professor George Scott readily admits that his students benefit tremendously from their contact with elementary school students. "Industrial design is basically product design," explains Scott. "For my students, it's rare to have an opportunity to work with the clients they are designing for. Through this project, they learn what it is like to design for children as well as to collaborate with them. It is an invaluable first-hand experience."

The collaborative project was the brainchild of Scott and first grade teacher Tom Brown. Last year they had their students team up to design and build an activity center of the future. This year they decided to focus on a more tangible product. "We wanted it to be something that could fit on a desktop," says Scott. "Toys were the logical choice."

Working in groups, the UW students and the first graders brainstormed, sketched drawings, created models, and reworked ideas to design unique toys. At the end of the project--after eight two-hour sessions--they had created masterpieces ranging from a miniature pogo stick to a lemonade maker to a boat for Beanie Babies with a viewing window and sleeping quarters.

"We knew that the kids would be disappointed if we didn't come through with something we'd promised. It was a different kind of pressure."

There were challenges along the way. Many of the industrial design students, not familiar with first graders' skills, arrived with unrealistic expectations. "We were envisioning the possibilities," recalls UW junior Young Chang. "When we met the students, we had to really adjust that."

The UW students also faced the challenge of translating the children's sometimes unrealistic ideas into a tangible product. The responsibility, says Chang, was somewhat daunting. "There was a lot expected of us, but it wasn't coming just from our professors," she explains. "We knew that the kids would be disappointed if we didn't come through with something we'd promised. It was a different kind of pressure."

By the second week, the industrial design students were bringing simple three-dimensional models to the classroom, where the groups continued to refine them. Finally the groups were ready to display their one-of-a-kind toys at a special presentation for their families. The first graders wrote short scripts to explain their products' geneses and special features.

"I was actually surprised that the models turned out so well," admits Brown. "It was great for my students to see their work in this really professional end-product. They got to take some really cool ideas and expand on them in a way that would not have been possible without the UW students. The project also developed their art, math, and social skills. These kids are going to remember this experience for a long time."

Becoming Educated About Education
Like their counterparts in industrial design, students in the Interdisciplinary Writing Program's Community Literacy Program benefit tremendously from their work in the schools. The program, now in its seventh year, combines English 198-a reading and writing course focusing on issues in American education--with community service in public elementary schools.

"Community service is completely integrated into the curriculum of the class," says Elizabeth Simmons-O'Neill, senior lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Writing Program, who helped develop the program and teaches the course. "I hope my students will feel good about working in the schools, and I also want them to move beyond feeling good to see the larger problems confronting schools and children."

Students choose the Community Literacy Program for many reasons. Some have a desire to work with children. Others want to investigate education or public policy as a career. Many are intrigued by the program's integration of experiential learning, library research, and writing.

Lena Ortiz, a senior majoring in business, signed up because she enjoys children and welcomed the opportunity to volunteer. She worked at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Seattle three days a week, spending much of her time with one kindergartner struggling to keep up with classmates.

"Working with this child was both satisfying and challenging," says Ortiz. "I would see the smile on her face when I came in and that made me feel good. On the other hand, she got distracted very easily. I had to be creative and think of different ways to keep her motivated." Ortiz also volunteered in an after-school program, working with older children.

In the UW classroom, Ortiz and her classmates explored issues in education through reading and writing assignments and detailed logs of their experiences at the elementary schools. Their final project was a case study related to their work in the schools.

"One of the things that makes this program so effective is that it brings together experiential and academic learning in a serious way. It can lead students in directions they might never have anticipated."

"This assignment requires my students to take seriously their own experience, their informed thinking about what shapes their experience, and their library-based research," says Simmons-O'Neill. "The students work hard to bring these elements together, and their subject matter is usually children they've come to care about. Students learn a lot about themselves, their writing processes, and the way arguments about children and education are constructed and used to create curriculum and policy."

Students also come to recognize complex problems in the schools, most of which they are powerless to solve. "There is only so much you can do in ten weeks," says Simmons-O'Neill. "It's frustrating for my students when they see that some of the children's needs can't be met. On the other hand, as they work with individual kids they can see a lot of progress and feel that they've been of use."

Then there's the emotional toll of ending the tutoring relationship. Mid-quarter, Ortiz was already anticipating the loss. "It's going to be hard," she said at the time. "I want to know that the child I've been tutoring will succeed."

Ortiz, who moved to California after graduating in June, suspects she would have continued to tutor her student had she remained in Seattle. She would not have been the first to do so. Students frequently continue to volunteer long after the program ends. One former student even created a continuing partnership between her elementary school class and her sorority.

"The experience of working in the schools is powerful," says Simmons-O'Neill. "One of the things that makes this program so effective is that it brings together experiential and academic learning in a serious way. It can lead students in directions they might never have anticipated."

Working Side-by-Side with Scientists
Project ASTRO encourages students to look in one direction: up toward the sky. The outreach program, created by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and funded by the National Science Foundation, was adopted by the UW Department of Astronomy last fall. It pairs astronomers with fourth through ninth grade teachers; together they lead hands-on science activities in the classroom. The teams--25 in the program's first year, 40 in the upcoming year--are armed with a resource guide overflowing with creative projects in all areas of astronomy.

"We wanted to get involved in an outreach project, and here was a chance to do it with a program that was already in place," says Woodruff Sullivan, professor of astronomy and Project ASTRO director. "What was particularly appealing was the program's flexibility. Lots of ideas were provided, but no specific approach was required."

Sullivan contacted colleagues in his department as well as amateur astronomers in the region to gauge their interest in participating in Project ASTRO. The response was phenomenal. "Nearly half of our faculty and several of our graduate students volunteered, as well as ten amateur astronomers," says Sullivan. "Most are renewing for next year."

For many of the participants, a favorite classroom activity was making a comet. The recipe--outlined in the resources guide--includes dry ice, mud, and a touch of ammonia and organic material. "A comet is basically a dirty snow-ball," explains Sullivan. "That project is a real hit in the classroom."

"The key is to get students participating. They learn much better by doing than by sitting and listening."

Another favorite was creating a scale model of the solar system. Sullivan, who volunteered at Olympic View Elementary School in Seattle, recalls, "Our model sun was 15 inches in diameter, so to be at scale, Pluto had to be a mile away. After working out the math, the kids loved pacing off the planets."

What's great about these projects, says Project ASTRO Coordinator Karen Peterson, is that most are very inexpensive. "In a lot of cases, all they require are walnuts or styrofoam balls and pins. The key is to get students participating. They learn much better by doing than by sitting and listening."

Thelma Ritchie agrees. An astronomy enthusiast and a fourth and fifth grade teacher at Island Park Elementary School on Mercer Island, Ritchie was thrilled to be involved with Project ASTRO. "Astronomy and space science are probably the most interesting topics we have for students," she says. "It's a great way to get them interested in science."

Ritchie was paired with Ed Mannery, a retired engineer in the Department of Astronomy who spent more than 15 years helping to build powerful telescopes for the University. Together they planned an ambitious project for the class that used Mannery's specialized expertise: they helped the students build a working telescope. "The students worked all year long, grinding and polishing the lens and sanding the tube," says Ritchie. "They also made their own, smaller refracting telescopes. It's been a very exciting project."

Although the astronomers were required to visit their assigned class only five times during the year, Mannery visited his more than 20 times. "I was really excited about this project," he explains. "The students were a completely unexpected surprise to me. They were fun, they were excited, and a couple of them were real hams."

Although the telescope project was a great success, Ritchie believes that her students benefited most from simply rubbing elbows with someone working in science. "Ed was a natural at working with students," she says. "And working side-by-side with a scientist is an experience kids don't get in school. I think they really valued that."

Peterson agrees that contact with scientists is one of the strengths of the program. She was particularly pleased to match a female, African American graduate student with a fourth grade class at Bailey-Gatzert Elementary School, which has a large minority population. "All kids have a vision of what an astronomer is," says Peterson. "For these kids to see an African American woman astronomer is an incredibly powerful message for them."

Of course, looking at the moon through a telescope you've built is also a powerful experience. That's just what Mannery, Ritchie, and her class did at the end of the school year. "After all the work the kids had put in, the gratification was incredible," says Mannery. "You look at the moon--even through the simplest telescope--and it looks absolutely fabulous."

A Fishy Look at Statistics

June Morita, UW senior lecturer in statistics and management science, wanted to teach elementary school students about statistics. She got their feet wet-literally-by having them catch fish from their school's fish pond.

By tagging fish in their school's pond, fourth graders learned about statistical methods. Photo by Mary Levin.

The project involved third and fourth graders at Alternative Elementary II (AE2) at Decatur School. The students caught and tagged 25 fish and returned them to the pond. Then they caught a second sample group, noting the proportion of tagged fish.

"We were using a statistically based method, the Mark-Recapture method, for estimating the number of fish in a wildlife population," explains Morita. "In this case, the population was the fish in the pond. It was a real investigation--not only were we tagging real fish, but we really did not know how many fish were in the pond." The conclusion: more than 100 fish call AE2's pond home.

Morita has presented a similar fish-tagging lesson at Garfield High School and has done hands-on lessons at several other area schools.

The College’s Many Links to K-12 Schools

Across the College of Arts and Sciences, individuals and departments have developed an astonishing array of programs for K-12 students. Here are some recent offerings:

Live from Earth and Mars brings science to life for Washington's K-12 students through educational modules that use data captured from Earth-orbiting satellites and planetary spacecraft. Funded through a NASA grant, the program involves the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, the Space Grant Program, and the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The Writers-in-the-Schools Program, a joint project of the UW Creative Writing Program and the Puget Sound Writing Program, places a UW graduate student in a Puget Sound primary or secondary school each quarter. Participants, who complete 24 hours of classroom teaching, conduct a variety of writing activities in the schools.

Creating a Community of Mathematics Learners is a five-year program involving approximately 600 middle and high school teachers from six school districts in the greater Seattle area who are working with UW faculty and graduate students to enhance mathematics education in their schools.

Rural Girls in Science is a two-week summer program on campus for rural female high school students, to provide hands-on experiences in the sciences. Through the program, offered by the Northwest Center for Research on Women, the students also meet women working in science careers, who serve as role models.

Math Day, presented by the Department of Mathematics, is an annual event that includes hands-on presentations and workshops targeted to high school students interested in mathematics.

Through the Science Outreach Program, sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and the ECSEL Program, undergraduates give presentations on topics of science, engineering, technology, and mathematics at K-12 schools throughout the state. The program also sponsors Science Day, which brings high school students and teachers to campus for hands-on activities and tours of UW research facilities.

World Languages Day, offered for the first time this year, was inspired by Math Day.

Meany Hall plans special performances for school groups whenever possible. Recently, during a visit from Dance Theatre of Harlem, Meany organized an event that brought more than 1,150 schoolchildren and their teachers to campus for a memorable performance.

Since the Burke Museum's reopening in November, more than 20,000 K-12 students have visited. The museum also offers travelling study collections, packed with scientific specimens, artifacts, and related curriculum materials. More than 80 kits are available for loan; this year they reached more than 100,000 students.

In addition to these offerings, many A&S departments offer programs for K-12 teachers, ranging from workshops to summer institutes. Some programs keep teachers current on topics covered in their classes; others explore the use of new technology or innovative curricula in instruction.

[Summer 1998 - Table of Contents]