Outreach Activities

K-5 Workshop

Scientific Thinkers at Innis Elementary School: The Scientific Thinkers program is designed to be a continual effort at Innis Elementary School, a Columbus public school, to bring scientists into the 3rd and 5th grade classrooms. This program strives to help the students at Innis to enjoy science and gain confidence in their abilities as students and scientific thinkers through a collaborative effort of teachers and OSU students teaching inquiry-based science.

There are three main aspects to the in-class methods-Meet a Scientist, Be a Scientist, and Learn about other Scientists. These are realized through weekly classroom visits by volunteers from the OSU Physics Department and other OSU science and engineering departments.

  • Meet a Scientist – The volunteer introduces the students to one interesting topic in his or her field of research or major explained at a basic level and presented in a discussion-based format, allowing the students to relate to the volunteer as a scientist;
  • Be a Scientist – During each visit, the volunteer delivers an inquiry-based lesson that will engage the students in hands-on experiments and scientific thinking.  Lessons are pre-selected by the program coordinators and teachers and will be emailed to the volunteers;
  • Learn about other Scientists – At least 3 projects per year expand beyond the curriculum to more complex science topics. For example, the students might learn about graphene, starting with a closer look at pencil lead and leading to a discussion of the Nobel Prize. Or, they might get the chance to use a microscope to look at sand, snowflakes and cells before learning about the equipment scientists use to see atoms.

To learn more about the Scientific Thinkers program, please visit our website.

Middle School Workshops

Breakfast of Science Champions (November 7, 2012): This is a university-wide program that draws students and their teachers from the Columbus City school district to explore science, math, and engineering. Students and their teachers participate in a breakfast followed by a short talk by a scientist, then they spend the rest of the morning engaging in hands-on science activities. (Workshops last approximately 2.5 hours- including breakfast.)