Karen Puracan is a science teacher at Hale Academy in Ocala, Florida. The school is a small private school with grades PreK-12th. Mrs. Puracan teaches 8th grade integrated science, 6th and 7th grade life science, 8th through 10th grade physical science and high school biology and ecology. To say she teaches a little of everything is an understatement.
Class sizes are small. Her largest class has only 11 and the smallest classes have only three students. This gives Mrs. Puracan the opportunity to really get to know each student and engage them one-on-one – something most teachers today are unable to do. This also allows time to play or “investigate” as Mrs. Puracan calls it with science.
“Since we are a private school, we have the freedom to take our time exploring things in more depth, without worrying about the test,” Mrs. Puracan explains.
Last year, Mrs. Puracan was a physical science “greenhorn” and stuck to the book. She quickly found the book was boring for both herself and her students.
We are back from our Science at Sea Alaska adventure. About 100 teachers cruised with us to learn about the science and environment of the Alaskan region. Traveling with the teachers were embedded naturalists who gave lessons about Alaska, its people, its wildlife and ecosystems. Steve, one of our naturalists, gave teachers a lesson about whales and their blubber to bring back to their classrooms.
The question is – how do whales survive in icy cold water? The answer is – their blubber keeps them warm. That’s a fun fact, but how do you get kids to really understand this and remember it for the dinner table talk that night? First, place the child’s hand in icy water and tell them to keep it there. See how long can they have it in the freezing water before their hand starts to hurt and they have
Karen Puracan is a science teacher at Hale Academy in Ocala, Florida. The school is a small private school with grades PreK-12th. Mrs. Puracan teaches 8th grade integrated science, 6th and 7th grade life science, 8th through 10th grade physical science and high school biology and ecology. To say she teaches a little of everything is an understatement.
