The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) awarded grants worth up to $1000 to seventeen Okaloosa County School District teachers. The grants will support innovative classroom projects that foster enthusiasm for math and science. The NDIA officially recognized the winning teachers during their annual symposium social at the Air Armament Museum last Thursday.
Local NDIA Board members were impressed by the number and quality of applications, noting that budget constraints prevented them from awarding grants to the other 23 projects.
"We didn't know what to expect, because this was the first time we've done this," said NDIA Board president Judy Stokley. "We were thrilled with the quality of the projects."
Stokley explained that the Board has a history of giving money to local students for college scholarships, but this year, they were looking for ways to impact more students. They decided to give money directly to teachers for specific projects that would excite students of different age levels and help them open up to consider careers in science, engineering or technical fields.

Innovative Projects

Davidson Middle School eighth grade teacher Rosemarie Morris is grateful for the educational opportunities the grant will provide her students. She and her colleague, Sharon Richardson, who teaches seventh grade science, each won a grant for lab equipment that collects and graphs data from motion sensors, temperature probes, voltage sensors and other instruments. Their sixth grade counterpart uses a simpler version of the same equipment in her class. Thanks to the grant, the seventh-graders will be able to use more sophisticated versions of the equipment, while the eighth-graders will actually use "real-world" versions of it, complete with the Texas Instruments Computer Based Laboratory interface.
"With these tools in place, our school will have a nicely tiered process which will develop and mature students' lab skills in ways appropriate to their age," said Morris. She pointed out that the graphs are generated electronically, so students don't spend time making graphs, but actually analyzing them. "For example, students could be asked to predict what a graph would look like for an object which was measured from a dead stop, gradually accelerated to 15 mph, traveled at a constant speed for five minutes and then slowed to a stop again."
Megan Tucker of Kenwood Elementary will use the grant money to develop aviation activities, including balsa airplane flight contests in which students use the Pythagorean theorem to measure which plane flew the longest distance. Her students will also study the laws of motion and actually launch model rockets. "This leads to a discussion of momentum, friction, gravity, the principles of flight and Newton's three laws of motion," she explained in her proposal. "These students that sit in our classes are the eyes that will see us land on Mars and beyond. They are going to dream what we can't imagine and design things that we can't dream."


Virtual Drag Races

Another teacher will use computer technology to virtually race dragsters, in order to determine their optimal shape. The students will create 3-D models on the computer and learn about surface friction and drag. Later, they will create real-life models and measure actual performance against predicted performance.
Jan Fendrick and Judy Brooke of Mary Esther Elementary will use the grant money to support an ongoing water quality testing project. Their third grade students will also learn to identify plants along the beaches and set up more advanced sand fences to protect sea oats.
"We want to use our wonderful coastal environment as an outdoor classroom," explained Fendrick. As part of the project, students will learn how to graph and find the mean, median and mode. "Instead of using science and math as isolated subjects, we want them to see the connection," she added.
District Science Specialist Shawnea Tallman teamed up with Choctawhatchee Assistant Principal Rick Soria to win a grant that will allow them to further develop the activities they designed to help students learn scientific thinking through aviation experiments and activities - a.k.a. "sorties" - conducted in the Air Armament Museum.
Tallman was very pleased with the backing of the NDIA for the projects. She noted that the superintendent has placed a strong emphasis on math and science, and the partnerships being developed with the NDIA and other community organizations are fundamental to the success of the many initiatives taking place around the county.
"Dr. Tibbetts has asked science teachers in Okaloosa County to set the bar high for their students and make a difference for America," she remarked. "The partnership between the NDIA and our teachers will help to make that vision a reality."