Twenty-one third-grade students joined their high school junior mentors for a visit to the science lab at Owensboro Community and Technical College Friday afternoon, where they examined live bacteria they’ve been growing in Petri dishes.
The trip was part of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) – a national nonprofit organization that provides transformative learning experiences to K-12 students and teachers across the country, giving students hands-on, real-world lessons in math, science, technology, and engineering.
Estes Elementary, recognized as a leader in implementing the PLTW curriculum, offers the program for students in grades K-4.
“The best thing about the PLTW curriculum is it provides real-world experiences for our students,” said Jeff Sorce, Estes Elementary PLTW teacher.
Throughout the semester, high school juniors in the PLTW Biomedical Science program at OCTC have mentored the Estes Elementary PLTW students. The students finished working on their projects with their mentors during Friday’s visit to OCTC. The mentors have also been guiding the third-grade students through a biomedical career pathways book and a biomedical careers website.
“It’s a great partnership that is made possible through the PLTW curriculum. It’s wonderful to see the older students teaching the elementary school students about science through project-based learning,” added Sorce.
