RAFT Hands-On Education

Nick Williams, employee at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and avid science educator, is a new RAFT member who just took 1,300 of our hands-on activity kits to rural Alaska. We enjoyed learning about how Nick and his team helped hundreds of students get excited about science. ________________________________________________________________________________ This fall, I took 1,300 RAFT kits on a trip to promote learning science at schools in the remote Alaskan villages of Kivalina and Kiana. Kivalina is a coastal village situated atop two square miles at the southern tip of a narrow, eight-mile long barrier reed separating the Chukchi Sea from the Kivalina River. It has a population of approximately 375, with about 150 in their school, Pre-K through 12 th grade. Kiana is inland and sits on a bluff overlooking the confluence of the Kobuk and Squirrel Rivers in northwestern Alaska, about 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Approximately 350 people live in Kiana, with about 120 kid...

Middle Grades Learning Progression Voted on at November 6, 2013 SBE Meeting On November 6, 2013 the State Board of Education approved a modified recommendation from CDE regarding the adoption of the middle school progressions proposal. Rather than approve an "integrated only" option for schools, the Board approved both the integrated model as proposed by the Science Expert Panel as California's preferred model AND a domain-specific model that will be developed by the same SEP. Districts will have the option to choose what best meets the needs of their students. More information to follow. Commentary: The State Board of Education adopted an “option” for California school on Nov 6th. School in California can either adopted an “integrated” approach to science or a “domain” specific model as has been done previously in the past. This is a relief for teachers who have been in the “game “for years as “domain” specific has been the route taken in California by most distri...

I was excited as soon as I saw the new RAFT Activity Kit " Solar Collector " on the night of the RAFT fundraiser. I spent the rest of the evening sharing my enthusiasm with the patrons who stopped by for a passport stamp. Here's why... My textbook describes the scientific method using wind turbine efficiency. Currently I pay $200 for a wind turbine kit that serves only 4 students for a total expenditure of $2,000 per year for 10 kits. In contrast, the new RAFT Activity Kit will allow each of my 155 - 160 students to create their own wind turbine for under $50 - what a tremendous cost savings each year! In addition, the new RAFT Activity Kit will allow me to include the new NGSS standards on energy and engineering, because the students will learn about solar collectors and create a mathematical model for measuring the efficiency of their wind turbine design. So, RAFT worked its magic once again. I felt like RAFT held a fundraiser just for me, because with the m...