FORT RUCKER, Ala. (January 29, 2015) -- Students at Fort Rucker Primary School learned a life lesson to go along with their curriculum as they celebrated 100 days in session.
The students participated in an activity Jan. 23 that not only challenged their minds, but provided a valuable service for animal shelters in the surrounding communities, said Yvette Esteves-Hurst, FRPS Spanish teacher.
As part of the activity, students were asked to provide pet food to be donated to animal shelters in Daleville, Enterprise and Ozark in a way that incorporated math, science and technologies, while also learning valuable problem-solving skills, said Yvette Esteves-Hurst, FRPS Spanish teacher.
"We came up with a school activity designed to promote a cooperative partnership among students, parents, community and staff," said Esteves-Hurst. "Our focus was problem solving. The students decided how much food was going to be in each bag. We taught lessons that appropriately combined math, science and technologies."
The students were tasked with sorting the bags by using different mathematical measurements -- counting by 10s, measurements, weight and reading a bar graph. A bit of science was incorporated by learning the differences between the animals that the food would be distributed to, such as dogs and cats. And finally, the use of technology was integrated by use of the smart boards, said the Spanish teacher.
The children had to work together to arrange the donated items into separate bags, and each bag was only allowed to contain 10 items, so once a bag was filled, they had to move on to another bag until all the items had been used to fill the bags.
"This activity is centered on students' learning, and their ability to reason and think mathematically," she said. "They learned how to count by 10s, estimate weight and read a bar graph."
This year, the students, with the full support of parents and faculty, managed to donate a total of 167 items to be distributed to the surrounding shelters.
After all the donated items were collected and sorted, Esteves-Hurst said the items were donated to the shelters personally with the help of other FRPS staff members.
The event is designed to educate and promote a cooperative partnership among students, parents, community and staff, she said.
In December, the school participated in an activity to gather food for local food banks, and Estevez-Hurst said they want to make sure that people's four-legged counterparts weren't forgotten.
"Students at Fort Rucker Primary School are learning and constructing knowledge as a result of meaningful and purposeful experiences," she said. "We want to teach the children about giving and to think of others aside from their selves, and the children really did not disappoint."
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