Write a commentA combination of science, math and life skills brought Oswego City School District sixth-graders together for successful hovercraft rides.
A full day’s work was put in by teams of students, whose members were assigned designated roles of leadership, measurement and data recording, among others. Periods of trial and error brought the teams closer together as they learned collaboration, teamwork, listening and problem-solving skills. Each OCSD elementary building participated in the Hovercraft Project, which enabled students – and their teachers – to ride hovercrafts from one side of a gymnasium to the other.
Led by Matthew Chase of Chase Educational Consulting, the project taught students that failure is about lessons learned to improve issues to make a successful hovercraft run. During the recent Fitzhugh Park Elementary and Charles E. Riley Elementary combined event, CER sixth-grade teacher Chris Trepasso said the students had recalled academic lessons of force, motion, resistance, center of mass, geometry, measurement and data to better grasp the most effective hovercraft techniques.
Once students tested the air-powered machines and raced, several teachers and staff members had a chance at the hovercraft fun.
The Hovercraft Project was brought to the OCSD, thanks to the Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation’s Arts-in-Education program.
