What’s long, blue, and stocked with beakers, petri dishes and test tubes?
If you guessed the Innovation Lab, you’d be right.
The school-bus-turned-mobile-science-lab recently made a two-day visit to John Hopkins Middle School, giving scholars the chance to do fun, hands-on activities.
Since last fall, the bus had been making the rounds to all Pinellas middle schools so scholars can get a STEAM (science, technology, art and mathematics) experience that they can’t get in the classroom.
The lab features stations of science activities. The Innovation Lab has five stations for scholars to explore, including heat flow station, a heat transfer station and a symbiotic station.
Scholars can do different hands-on activities that include a bird beak lab and robotics, said science coach Dr. Desteanee Cunningham, who organized the bus visit to JHop.
“Innovation lab helps teachers by helping the scholars learn more successful of their standers,” Cunningham said.
Eighth grade science teacher Ivo Decarlis. said the bus was a good way to teach his scholars review.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for students to engage with hands-on activities,” he said. “It teaches kids things that they use in real life that you can’t learn in a classroom.”
Among the students participating was seventh-grader Calyn Vayne.
“It’s very fun, I wish we had time to do more,” she said.
Jocelyn Riddlebarger concurred.
“It’s really fun because it lets kids learn about certain topics and review,” she said.
