The pilot for PLTW Launch, Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) program for kindergarten through fifth grade, is in full gear across the country from ”The Big Apple” to ”The Golden State.” Forty-three schools are currently piloting PLTW Launch, and we have exciting news to share: schools in 30 states have come aboard to introduce Launch to their students in the 2014-15 school year. This means that the number of students who will get a chance to love science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) keeps growing. What better way to celebrate than to share one example of the amazing discoveries happening in PLTW Launch classrooms every day. Launch Lead Teacher Paul Schiele, a fifth grade teacher at Russell Ranch Elementary in Folsom, California, told us this success story from his classroom:
One day, Paul guided his fifth-graders through the Energy: Collisions PLTW Launch module. At the completion of the module, one of his students shared the following summary:
“The first car caused the second car to bounce backwards because the first car had more potential energy to start with because it had more mass and was higher up, which makes more kinetic energy when it is released, compared to the second car. The collision was inelastic because there was not an equal transfer of energy between the two cars because the first car stopped after sending the second car flying backwards.”
Paul explained, “This came from a fifth grader who does not like school to say the least. Another one of my students, who is typically the first person to head to recess, stayed in and diligently worked on his restraint system the entire recess to the point that I had to basically tell him to go to the bathroom. What an amazing experience this has been for my students! They are grasping the concepts unbelievably well and are fully engaged.”
Curious, engaged, and inspired. Today, take a moment to learn more about PLTW Launch and imagine the amazing discoveries your students could have in your classroom.
Did you know Paul was featured in a video about Lead Teacher training? Click here and find out what interested him about PLTW Launch and compelled him to get involved.
