Children's imaginations are put to good use in Sharla Thomas' fifth-grade science glass at Park Elementary School.
Honored recently by the Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake City as an outstanding science teacher, Thomas uses instruction, coupled with activities, to make learning fun for her 10-year-old charges.During a recent lesson on matter, Thomas guided the children through an experiment of mixing harmless chemicals to learn their reactions and to determine, by deduction, what caused the chemicals to act the way they do.
"The kids need to be actively involved or I'll lose them," said Thomas. "It eliminates the discipline problems when they're involved. When they're bored, they tend to act up."
Boredom was not a problem during the science experiment. First, they discussed what the chemicals might do once combined. Then donning protective goggles, the children stayed busy putting baking soda and calcium chloride in plastic baggies. They were then instructed to carefully place a small container of phenol red solution into the baggie but not to spill it.
Finally, they sealed the baggies and mixed the liquid. Immediately, the chemicals emitted heat and gas. The baggies expanded and the red solution turned yellow.
Thomas instructed the children to observe the reaction and write down what they saw in their log books. Next they repeated the experiment, this time using water instead of phenol red solution.
Again, the reaction of baking soda and calcium chloride emitted heat and gas, expanding the baggies. But the mixture did not turn yellow. Thomas asked the students what assumptions they could make from the experience.
Meanwhile, their ice cream began to get hard. Earlier, the students had mixed ice, salt and half-and-half milk in two baggies, then put them away in their desks. When their other science classwork was finished, they were ready for ice cream.
In addition to science, Thomas teaches math and the other three R's, where she also works to keep students interested.
A favorite teacher did the same for her. She recalled her fourth-grade class in Spanish Fork where her teacher, Jimmy Finch, made learning enjoyable.
"We made a solar system model," she said. "That was so much more fun than just saying the Earth was so far from the sun."
Finch still teaches in the district but now is in Mapleton.
"I'm still learning," Thomas said. "I love to observe other teachers. If I were to give teachers advice, it would be to learn from other teachers."