Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1190776
THE WOW FACTOR Dennis and Daniel Gibbs set a STEM career path Imperial Teachers Association T ' S T I M E T O f i re th e v o r t e x cannon , and a hush fall s over the high school and elementary students assembled. ere is no explosion or boom. Instead, the cannon quietly emits giant smoke rings that float over the schoolyard. e cannon isn't just blowing smoke. It's teaching students about the relation- ships between volume, pressure and the stability of rotating objects. When students utter "wow!" it means th e cannon has w hat it takes for th e Imperial Valley Discovery Zone (IVDZ), a unique science center created by Dennis and Daniel Gibbs, with help from CTA's Institute for Teaching. IFT, which funds educators' innovative ideas, awarded th eir proje ct $20,000 in 2015-16 and another $10,000 in 2018-19. "While every exhibit our students cre- ate has some underlying STEM concept, I every exhibit also has to pass the wow test," explains Dennis. "In addition to being fun, science should make kids won- der and tap into their innate curiosity so they want to learn more." The fraternal twins teach at Imperial High School and grew up in nearby Braw- ley. Dennis, the older by three minutes, teaches science classes with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and Daniel teaches a career pathways course. e educators created th e c ent er at B en Hul se E l em ent ar y School, across the street from the high school. The goal is to have high school students build exciting, hands-on proj- ects that get elementary students in this agricultural community excited about science when they visit. The IVDZ incorporates elementar y school STEM instruction, covers the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and provides exciting educational oppor- tunities beyond the regular classroom environment for youngsters, many of whom are low-income English learners. ere's a 3-D printer, robotics activities and coding lessons. In addition to oper- ating during school hours, the IVDZ is available for community use after school. "I like it because I get to ask lots of qu estions," say s four th grad er Yarely Va s qu ez. " We get to do e xp erim ent s and figure out if som ething w ork s or not. I love doing robotics." T h i r t y h i g h s c h o o l e r s , w h o a r e recruited from Dan's science classes and receive vocational education credit, are leaders in the program. These "explain- ers" help in training 180 of their peers, w ho deliver sp ecific lessons to elementary students. GIBBS continued on page 22 Dennis and Daniel Gibbs flank the vortex cannon. Spandex cloth pulls back to suck air into a steam-filled vessel. When it is released, foggy air is ejected, forming a ring-shaped vortex. Photo by Scott Buschman 21 D E C E M B E R 2 019 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0