Tiffany Powers, a senior education major at Ohio State University-Mansfield, uses math concepts to help Malabar Intermediate School fifth-graders solve a “crime” in the CSI gallery at Springmill Learning Center.
Fifth-graders from Malabar Intermediate School planned a mission to Mars Wednesday, using math concepts to calculate how to fit supplies and equipment into their space shuttle’s limited cargo area.
Malabar students were back in Springmill Learning Center's math and science galleries for the first time since last spring. Different fourth- and fifth-grade classes will study there through next Tuesday.
All Springmill sessions are taught by math and language arts methods students from Ohio State University-Mansfield under the supervision of OSU faculty.
In the Measuring Mars gallery, OSU senior Jordan Landis, an education major, guided students as they worked to fit blocks of various cubic-foot dimensions into the cargo hold of their space shuttle.
“The cargo area is limited. They have to figure out what they will need to survive the mission and fit those supplies into the cargo space,” Landis said.
OSU math professor Lee McEwan observed Landis’ work.
In the CSI Gallery across the hall another group of fifth-graders was hard at work sifting through clues from a simulated crime scene.
“We’re using math concepts to solve this ‘crime,’ which occurred earlier today,” said Tiffany Powers, a senior education major whose goal is to be a middle school teacher.
The CSI Gallery stimulates critical-thinking and observation skills through forensic investigations. The exhibit includes a fingerprint scanner, hair sample measurement, handwriting analysis and other equipment.
During the five days at Springmill Malabar students spend two hours working on math concepts in the various learning galleries, followed by two hours in a language arts class working on related reading and writing that connects to their gallery visits.
Planning is underway for three additional days in December for visits by Malabar sixth-graders and for other use of Springmill by Mansfield City Schools students during the second semester.
Much has happened since last spring when the board of education announced that the district – because of its fiscal emergency status – would not have the resources to continue operating Springmill at its staffing level of five teachers and three support staff. Those individuals were reassigned to other buildings.
In June the Springmill Steering Committee – a group of MCS parents, board members, administrators and Ohio State University-Mansfield staff – began exploring options for continued use of Springmill. The committee was chaired by Dr. Dawn Kitchen, associate professor of anthropology at OSU-Mansfield, and Teana Skyes, program director at HMS Permedion. Both have children in MCS schools.
The committee worked on a variety of topics, ranging from development of a curriculum related to Springmill’s science and math galleries to how Springmill might be marketed to produce income from special events and visits by other school districts. The committee’s recommendations have been presented to the board of education.
The most significant event of the summer was the announcement that OSU-Mansfield would locate its Math Literacy Center at Springmill. The move was effective in September after approval by the board of education, which retains ownership and control of the building.
Under terms of the agreement McEwan and Terri Bucci, associate professor of education in the Department of Teaching and Learning, now have their offices at Springmill. Bucci served on the steering committee.
MCS teacher Meg Strong has been hired by OSU-Mansfield to work as “content and administrative expert” at Springmill. In that role she will divide her time between working for the university, developing use of Springmill by MCS students and marketing the facility to outside entities.
Strong, who was based at Springmill last year, had been reassigned as a second-grade teacher at Prospect Elementary but was granted a one-year leave of absence to work for OSU. The university pays her salary and benefits.
In 2011 and 2012 the district utilized approximately $3 million in permanent improvement funds at Springmill to create hands-on science and math galleries, develop a bird study area and transform the gymnasium into an adventure gallery with a ropes course and climbing walls.