MIT Scientist Works with Elementary School on BP Funded Oil Spill Project
(PRWEB) July 13, 2013 -- The Acera School in Winchester MA is partnering with MIT professor Eric Alm to free the minds of future innovators and tackle one of the world’s most complex environmental issues— oil spills—at the same time.
This past month Alm is led the intermediate elementary school class in an experiment designed to grow bacteria colonies. This experiment is part of Alm’s MIT research project—funded by BP— to study how efficiently bacteria degrade oil in basins around the world. Together, Alm and the Acera students are having fun watching the bacteria grow and analyzing the rate of oil degradation over time. “What is so exciting ,” says Acera teacher Christine Horan, “is collaborating with Eric teaching these kids real world science, designed to solve real world problems. This is not pretend or textbook theory. Even after three years of working with Eric, it still astounds me that our students are getting such direct access to this kind of hands on learning, which is truly how I believe students learn best.”
The Acera School for Science, Technology, and Creativity is creating a learning experience for students in grades K- 8 that is driven by student’s curiosity, drive, and passion for learning while preparing them with the real world skills needed to be future innovators and problem solvers ready to take on the worlds most complex problems. In order to accomplish this, Acera collaborates with passionate scientists and systems thinkers who represent bioengineering, microbial evolution, cardiology, engineering, astrophysics, genetics, and nanotechnology. All hailing from MIT, Tufts, Museum of Science, and Harvard, these collaborators create lessons tailored to fit each student’s unique hunger for knowledge.
The partnership between Eric Alm and Acera elementary school teacher Christine Horan is one such example. Alm has been working with Acera since the school’s opening in 2010. Says Alm, “These kids continually surprise me with how much they are grasping at such young ages. I come in with experiments taken from my research at MIT and I am blown away by the degree of complexity to which we explore the material together.”
At a time when government officials like Deval Patrick are launching initiatives for innovation in education in order to bolster the future of Massachusetts Innovation Economy, Acera is walking the talk and using a holistic approach to education that is effecting change in real time and preparing these students with the skills they will need to enter the 21st century workforce. Says Acera School founder Courtney Dickinson, “Children are innately curious about how the world works -- decoding the world on the watch of inspiring scientists like Dr. Eric Alm inspires a sense of purpose in learning. Our students see how it all "counts" and want to discover answers to real world problems. We set them on a path of belief in themselves, knowledge and ingenuity to solve problems, and capacity to work as teams and leaders who positively impact the world.”
The Acera School for Creativity and Leadership is moving to its new location in Winchester , MA this September. Acera’s next information sessions will be held July 13th at 7:30 PM and August 20th at 7:30 PM. For more information visit http://www.aceraschool.org.
Kate Rocheleau, [email protected], 603 828 7601, [email protected]
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