Thomas and Cornelia Ford Memorial Grant: On a Roll and Mystery Detectives
- School Year: 2019-2020
- Applicants: Kristen Cool, Lead Teacher & Emily Salerno, Kelly Habif, Sandra Felicissimo
- School: Charter Oak
- Subjects: Science
Connecticut Science Center educators will be scientists in residence for two days at Charter Oak International Academy elementary School. Kindergarten students will engage in two different programs that will extend their understanding of scientific inquiry and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. As Mystery Detectives, students will investigate the properties and characteristics of mystery materials to classify them as solids, liquids, or gases. Students then will have an opportunity to strengthen their engineering practices as they explore force and motion with the program entitled, "On a Roll." Kindergartners will try to push and roll various spheres to land on the correct targets. By participating in these two programs, budding scientists will learn about the similarities and differences between scientific inquiry and engineering design. Scientific inquiry involves the formulation of a question that can be answered through investigation, while engineering design involves the formulation of a problem that be solved through design.