I have no idea where the time goes! Monday was filled with science lessons on respiration and muscles. When we arrived at the teacher’s home to prepare the lunches, the teacher we work with was no where to be found. We learned that her mother had passed away unexpectedly. It was really sad. Fortunately, our experiences last week had trained us enough to be able to smoothly run class.
The other science lessons taught this week included, first aid (with the kids bandaging one another), bacteria, parasites and hygeine. Topics included illness prevention, food safety and clean drinking water. Amit and I showed the students videos and a powerpoint presentation about bacteria; the students were fascinated. They had never seen anything like these images. They were shown pictures of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and common parasites among many other things. We also explained how the immune system fights off bacteria while stressing the importance of good hygeine. Then, the students were allowed to use the microscopes we brought. They had a blast and went on hunts outside to find creatures to look at. Even the principal enjoyed the experience! None of the 83 students, at Koalabata and SOS, had ever seen a microscope before!
Thursday, I taught the scientific method! The kids had a blast creating paper airplanes and modifying them based on their hypotheses! To keep the process fresh in their minds, today, the students designed two experiments. The first one was to discover what conditions allowed bean seeds to grow/germinate the best. They wrote their hypotheses today and will continue the experiment with their bean seeds over the weekend. Then, we divided them up into gardening groups. Each group was given an area of land to plant with vegetables and flowers of their choice. In their “lab books” they documented what they did and followed the scientific method. They will keep up with their gardens and lab books for the next two and a half weeks. When we went outside to begin the gardens, I was amazed at the students’ abilities. They were awesome! Also, Amit and I improved our students’ participation in homework completion by about 200%! What’s our secret?-cake :)!
I am thrilled about the HIV testing day at Koalabata! We are sending the permission slips home with the students on Monday. I am so grateful that Baylor is so willing to help us. I hope the students all come and bring their parents. Now we are designing projects for the students to work on as groups to educate those who come to the testing event.
Amit and I are really getting to know our students; we love them! On this week’s science quiz, 10 students at Koalabata made a 100%! I was so proud!
As I teach at SOS and Koalabata, I feel as though I am starting from the bottom at Koalabata, but simply reviewing at SOS. It is quite a challenge. We also learned that next week will be our last week teaching at SOS because the students are going to camp. I think this will be good because we will be able to spend a lot more time at Koalabata, where the students really need the help most.