The passage describes Carla Curran's efforts to make science accessible for visually impaired students through interactive teaching methods. During a visit to the Perkins School for the Blind, she shares 3-D models of microscopic phytoplankton, allowing the students to feel and explore the intricacies of these organisms, vastly enlarged to 5,000 times their original size. Curran encourages the teenagers to articulate their experiences and insights as they engage with the models. With over 22 years of teaching experience and a recent focus on her role at Perkins, Curran has effectively reached more than 100 students and is committed to fostering inclusivity in STEM education. Her work highlights the importance of hands-on, tactile learning experiences for students who may face barriers in traditional learning environments.
(1) During a visit to the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, Carla Curran shares 3-D models of microscopic phytoplankton with a group of teenagers. (2) Phytoplankton are a kind of algae. (3) The models are 5,000 times their original size. (4) The students run their hands over the grooves and cracks of the models, learning the parts. (5) Curran asks the teens to say what they feel. (6) For more than 22 years Curran has taught hundreds of students most recently at Savannah State University in Georgia. (7) However, over the past six years, her role as a guest educator at Perkins has led to the work in which she has the most influence.
(8) In exercises designed to make scientific concepts more interactive and accessible. (9) She has engaged more than 100 Perkins students. (10) It’s an approach aimed at being inclusive and keeping students in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math.
1 answer