Submitted article
Teaching today’s generation of children is a challenging task, and many teachers are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to educate students. At the Bucyrus Middle School, the 7th grade team of teachers developed a cross-curricular Greek mythology program that involved Science, Math, Social Studies and Language Arts.
One of the benchmark projects in the program was the “Metric Olympics.” The competition was conducted in Mrs. Kara Mowery’s 7th grade science classes.
“My Science students spent about a week and a half learning about different scientific tools, how to use them, when to use them, and how to convert from one metric unit to another (ex: milliliters to liters, kilogram to gram, and meter to centimeter),” Mowery said. “Then we had the Olympics in my room for four class days to practice our measuring skills (Math) and participate in an activity that was created to honor the gods of ancient Greece (Social Studies).”
In Mrs. Erika Orians’ English Language Arts classes, students studied all of the main Olympian Greek Gods, presented them, read several myths in class and completed comprehension questions, and wrote comparative essays about different versions of the myths or how a Greek god matches up to an another culture’s mythology.
“Many of us already work together on projects, but since the kids have been talking so much about mythology from Language Arts and Social Studies class, all of us just came together,” Orians said. “When the students are excited about something, we need to use it!”
The students enjoyed interacting with each other during the Olympics, as well as understanding how content areas are related and how they apply to the everyday lives of students.
“So many times, we have had students asking the age old question, ‘when will I ever use this in my life’,” Mowery said. “Well, now they got the answer to that question!”
Each of Mowery’s classes crowned winners in the individual events. Students were awarded medals and received a special snack provided by Mowery.
“The students loved competing in the Metric Olympics and wore their medals around all day,” 7th grade Math teacher Bethany Guinther said. “It was nice to see them proud of what they accomplished.”
This isn’t the only time the 7th grade teachers collaborate on projects for students. Mowery and Orians work together, with students, on another major project each year.
“Mrs. Orians and I also collaborate with our Honors classes to prepare them for our school science fair,” Mowery said. “Science fair is a highly sought after skill since Bucyrus is the only school in Crawford County to conduct a science fair.”
“I could not be prouder of the work our 7th grade teachers are doing to collaborate and engage students in their own learning,” Secondary School Associate Principal John Massara said. “The ‘Metric Olympics’ project, and the collaboration to tie the project together with other content areas, is another example of how our teachers work tirelessly to provide a customized and personalized education to every student in the Bucyrus City Schools.”
To learn more about the 7th grade Greek Mythology program or “Metric Olympics,” please contact Kara Mowery at kmowery@bucyrussschools.org or Erika Orians at eorians@bucyrusschools.org.