By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

 Saco Middle School students were all smiles despite pouring rain as they trekked across the beach at the University of New England to toss oranges into the river.

In a matter of minutes, the fruit was thrown into the Saco River, students timed their rapid progression in the current and the seventh graders headed to the Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center for a hands-on visit with local sea creatures.

A group of nearly 90 students spent last Friday on the university’s Biddeford campus as part of the Spartacus GK12 Fellow Project, which matches graduate students with local public school classrooms. Caitlyn Little, a fellow who worked with Saco Middle School science teacher Melissa Gosselin, organized the field trip.

While on campus, students timed oranges in the water’s current to determine their velocity under different weather conditions. Gosselin said the experiment directly connected students to their recent lessons on Newton’s three laws.

After timing oranges in the river, students heard from college students about their research and visited a laboratory to hold skates, starfish and other sea creatures found in the Gulf of Maine.

Paige Lawlor, 13, said it was “cool” to hold a starfish and visit the university to learn more about science. Julia Chasse, 12, agreed.

“It was fun. My favorite is the little skate because it felt really cool. The mouth made a pucker face,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Allison Cox, 13, said she enjoyed working with Little in the classroom.

“I thought it was fun because we did a lot of experiments and labs,” she said.

That kind of hands-on exposure to science is one goal of the Spartacus GK12 Fellow Project, said program manager Henrietta List. The graduate fellowship program is funded by the National Science Foundation. It began at the university in 2009 with three fellows and grew to seven fellows this year. List expects eight fellows to participate next year.

Graduate fellows spend 10 hours per week in the classroom teaching lessons and “taking complicated ideas and concepts and breaking them down,” List said.

“This gives (fellows) an opportunity to figure out a way to discuss their research in lay terms,” she said.

Little said working with middle school students has helped her improve her ability to talk about her research of Atlantic sturgeon in a way that is approachable for people outside the science field. She previously worked at the Philadelphia Zoo and looked forward to the opportunity to work with children in science education, she said.

“Kids get really excited about science when they get to touch things,” she said. “We can bring materials into the classroom teachers may not have thought of.”

Little said her favorite part of working with younger students is seeing them have a great time while they’re learning.

“That’s my favorite part about it, seeing the light bulb go on and seeing them get excited,” she said. “It’s a really fulfilling experience.”

Gosselin, the host teacher at Saco Middle School, said having Little in the classroom was invaluable for both her and the students.

“Having someone who is actually working in the science field shows them how important science is outside of the classroom,” she said. “It has increased my excitement for science, which in turn increases the excitement for the kids.” 

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.