So, today i was lucky enough to part of the Science Teacher Field Institute with Project Exploration. STFI is a program at P.E. that takes a group of teachers into the classroom and learn about different science related things. Then they go out to The Lost In Time ranch, where BPSE was held, and dig for fossils and do some really cool activities. Wait, wait, wait…teachers??? Yeah that’s right teachers. People think that P.E. is only about the students, but no, it’s also a great resource for teachers. These great groups of teachers are eager to learn about more science related subjects in a fun way. These teachers are primarily teaching students 4-12 grade. They learn in the classroom, located in the University of Chicago, much like us students. This program is like out student program. It shocked me when Gabe Lyons told me that the STFI is modeled after the student programs. I was shocked because i thought that the STFI program was different. I thought that the teachers would do different things. Maybe they would just learn about P.E. and different ways to make science interesting in there science class. But they do everything we do. Today i got to witness the teachers journaling, sharing aloud, responding, performing different activities, and making guesses and observations just like us. So students don’t feel bad when we have to journal, Gabe forces everyone to do it…Hahaha!!! Just kidding Gabe, love ya!! But, they do everything we do. The teachers are even going out to Lost In Time Ranch, where BSPE and SDE were last month. They are going to be staying there and digging up fossils and doing cool activities, playing Apples to Apples, haha right Gabe? And just growing as teachers, people, friends, and as a family. In a way the teachers that we know are just like us…students. They learn different things and expand there knowledge of the subject we have grown to love.

STFI team members leaning about meteors

Today STFI went to the Adler Planetarium and leaned about meteors and rocks. While i was there with them i also learned a lot. Just a few things that we learned today was that the our solar system actually consists of nine planets, 61 moons, and one star. Wow!! So much. Also that when meteors fall the force of the meteor hitting the air as it falls is strong enough to shatter steel!!!! Holy crap!! That’s a lot. And meteors when they fall people think they are really hot and some people think that they are really cold. We were told that maybe it could be hot or that it’s so cold that it feels hot.Hhhmmm…definitely something to think about. After the Adler Planetarium, we headed over to the Shedd Aquarium. There the teachers went around the Rising Amazon exhibit looking at the different habitats and writing about them. But, while they were doing that, Gabe and my self  received the privilege how being interviewed by a Tribune reporter. (Look for the article in tomorrow’s issue) But while i was talking to Rob, our interviewer, i really got to express how i felt about P.E. and what it means to me. After the Shedd, we had lunch at the Field Museum. Then we walked up to the Evolving Planet exhibit and learned about marine animals, and dinosaurs and other animals that lived at the time. It was great being able to see how teachers and very well educated people think about different things and teachings. Having such smart, eloquent people there was so refreshing from the real world. Just knowing that they know so much about what they do and the field that they are in is really cool. All of the teachers are great people and are gonna have a blast in LITR, Lost in Time Ranch. have fun STFI!!!! Oh and Happy 40th Anniversary Apollo 11!!!

STFI team members at the Field Museum with Sue the T-Rex