B REAK OUT!
why the microscopes might be out, why she has animals on the scales, and why there are laptops on each table. STEAM
POWER Foundation donates for creative problem solving By Kate Wutz
T
he excitement is palpable when Wood River Middle School science teacher Jill Clark’s seventh-grade students file into their classroom to see two sets of locked boxes set up on the front lab table. It’s the day before a break, and the kids are already excited, the idea of a new activity sending their energy to new heights.
“I’m so sorry,” Clark tells them. “But I was working on your grades last night, and I must have pushed a button and…I think your grades are locked in these boxes.” Shortly after she explains the activity, the kids are off, trying to open the boxes and save their grades. Known as “Breakout Boxes,” each is closed with five locks and topped by a smaller box closed with another lock. The students need to work together in teams to solve six different puzzles, each of which will provide a code to open one of the locks. Engaging mysteries
Correct answers to a crossword puzzle provided a secret word for one lock, and a pop quiz provided another answer. The weights
of three different stuffed beanbag animals needed to be added together to open another one of the locks. The code to one lock was written in tiny text on a microscope slide and another was written in invisible ink on a card hidden in the room. And before the students could solve the invisible ink puzzle, they needed to find a key hidden somewhere that would unlock a smaller box that held a UV flashlight—for reading the invisible ink, of course. The biggest challenge of all? The students need to figure all of this out by themselves. The only direction Clark gives is, “Go!”, though she does offer each team two cards that were each good for what she describes as a “major hint.” She doesn’t tell them the steps they need to take, the items they’re looking for, or even point them in the right direction. She waits for them to figure out, for example,
The Breakout Boxes are meant to spur creative problem solving, which is exactly why the POWER Foundation sponsored Wood River Middle School’s purchase of four boxes. The POWER Foundation, or PFI, is dedicated to encouraging students to develop interests in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Inherent in most of these disciplines is the ability to think outside the box—so to speak—to problem-solve, and to not only determine what the solution to a complex problem is, but how to clearly define the problem. And that’s where the boxes come in. Clark says the boxes help her students fully engage in learning, especially the students who can’t easily sit still in class. “One student has such trouble,” she says. “He’s been in disciplinary hearings and in and out of in-school and out-of-school suspension. But when we use the boxes in class, he’s one of the most engaged and active students.”
Success! The students found their grades locked inside…though sadly, a few F’s were included. PHOTO: KATE WUTZ
Clark says the boxes help her students fully engage in learning, especially the students who can’t easily sit still in class. Working smarter. Some students went straight to the boxes and began manipulating the
Putting fun into learning
It works with all of the students, too. On this particular day, some gravitated toward the science crossword puzzle and the pop quiz, while others immediately ran to the front of the room to investigate if the locks were, as one student put it, “legit.” (They were.) Others sat quietly for a moment or two, scanning the room and mentally cataloging clues—a notecard tucked inside the rib cage of a skeleton, for example. But they were all paying undivided attention to the activity. POWER CEO Bret Moffett also got in on the fun, acting as “Teacher for a Day” with Clark’s classes in February. “It’s important to reach kids where they are,” he says. “By funding the school’s purchase of these boxes, we’re helping them engage and explore in new and exciting ways. Kids learn best when they’re having fun.” Kate Wutz is a copywriter for Corporate Communications and is located in Hailey.
PHOTO: KATE WUTZ
A little help please?
14 Surges March 2017
locks, while others studied the written materials first. PHOTO: KATE WUTZ
HAVE AN IDEA? BRING IT! Do you work with a local organization that supports STEAM? Is there a STEAM-related project you think our Foundation should support? Let us know! Grant applications can be found by searching “Foundation Grant Application” on Portal. Email kate.wutz@powereng.com or alice.nordstrom@powereng.com with any questions.
(Opposite) Teacher Jill Clark, left, helps her students with a tricky quiz question. The students must figure out most of the clues on their own, but are able to ask for help if needed. March 2017 Surges 15