A Day in the Life of a Lower School Scientist

WRITTEN BY LIZ REGALIA | PHOTOS BY BRIAN PRINCIPE

It's 8:25 a.m. on a cool morning in March, and there are 34 second graders lined up in the sun outside of Ashley Hall's Lower School STEAM Lab. Inside, science teacher Meghan Ward hurries to finish dividing lab materials into a dozen different bins. Suddenly the door pops open.

“Can we come in yet?!” They’re early, but you can’t blame them. Once they walk through that door, they are no longer students. For an hour, they become inquisitive scientists.

Once a week since the start of the school year, students in grades 1-4 have assembled in Ashley Hall’s brand-new 2,100-square foot STEAM Lab to complete a hands-on science lesson. By March, it’s safe to say everyone knows the drill. “I give them a challenge, minimal materials, just a little bit of time, and they have to problem solve,” Ward says. “Just watch,” she adds with a smile as she waves them in. “They are always ready to go.”

First Grade

THE CHALLENGE: Create a trap that will attract a leprechaun, so he can lead you to his pot of gold!

First grade scientists got some exciting news the week before St. Patrick’s Day: trails of glitter left by sneaky leprechauns had been spotted around campus. To catch them, they were challenged to build a leprechaun trap.

Each armed with their own clipboard, scientists split up in groups of three or four to brainstorm. “We always have them begin the process by sketching their own idea, then they collaborate as a group and come up with one design,” Ward says.

With a single plan in place, each team got to work building with the materials available to them. “We’re going to glue together cardboard to make a box and lure him in with glitter,” explained Olivia Belgraier ’34. “Then put it at the Bear Cave to catch him!”

Second Grade

THE CHALLENGE: “Catch” a gas and show your teachers.

Each spring, second graders study states of matter. After a quick review of the properties of a solid, a liquid, and a gas, scientists were given their STEAM challenge: figure out how to make an invisible gas visible.

Using baking soda, vinegar, and some pretty fancy scientific materials, scientists split up into 12 teams to design a step-by-step plan of how they could mix a solid with a liquid to fill a balloon with a gas. Once their plan was approved by an adult, they received a bin with their materials and began to experiment.

The winning formula? Place baking soda in an Erlenmeyer flask, add a few drops of vinegar, then quickly place a balloon on top to watch it fill up with gas.

Third Grade

THE CHALLENGE: Grow your own plant that produces oxygen and glucose.

Scientists in third grade always start STEAM with an open notebook in their lap. “Photo means light,” Ward explains as her scientists put their pencils to paper to draw a diagram of a plant to illustrate the process of photosynthesis. “And synthesis means make. Make what?”

Next, they draw an arrow coming off their stems to show what plants make – glucose and oxygen – and arrows pointing toward their leaves to show what they need – energy, carbon dioxide, and water. “Now get ready for an advanced chemistry equation.”

Scientists copy down 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 from the electronic chalkboard, then they close their notebooks to begin a long-term experiment that will turn their drawings into real-life plants. Each scientist received scarlet hibiscus seeds to sow in their own container, so they could watch it grow in the coming months.

Fourth Grade

THE CHALLENGE: Make a model of the Charleston Peninsula to investigate the effects of pollution on our waterways.

“Has anyone ever heard the word ecology?” Ward asks her fourth grade scientists. Every hand goes up. “Well today, you are going to be ecologists, scientists who study the relationship between living things and their habitat.”

The group begins by thinking about how they all affect their own environment: the peninsula of Charleston. Then they split into teams and received a clear tray with a white tray nested at an angle inside. Using Play-Doh, they built a “plot of land” then covered it with “pollution” humans leave behind, including sprinkles for dog droppings and coffee grounds for topsoil. Then our ecologists made it rain – literally.

Each team poured water on their land and tilted their tray to see the pollution run off. Then they did it again, but this time, they added sponges to represent salt marshes. The result? Proof of just how important grasses and pluff mud are when it comes to protecting our waterways since they trap pollution.