Circleville Middle School Science Day On a crisp fall day in October Circleville Middle School sixth graders explored the Circleville Land Lab and experienced team building activities with counselors from Camp Oty’Okwa, a camp in South Bloomingville, Ohio that is owned by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Ohio. CMS teacher, Joe Stitt, was awarded a grant from Circleville City School Foundation(CCSF) to fund this project. During the three hour program students were divided into five small groups that were actively engaged in numerous problem solving activities throughout the expanse of the land lab. Among the stations the students visited was the Earth Ball transport. Students were arranged in two lines facing each other, and their goal was to cooperatively move the Earth ball from one end of the line to the other end as quickly as possible with everyone participating in the transport. Another activity was entitled “Land of Mysteries”. Each student in the group was given a card with a picture of an animal on it, and the students worked as a team to scavenge, or hunt, for signs of the animals among the wetlands area. The goal of the “Insect Incident” activity was to catch, identify and release six species of insects using nets in the “rough” area of the land lab. According to Al Marietta, Education Coordinator for Camp Oty’Okwa, “It is refreshing to find individuals and organizations such as CCSF who value nature, science and the intrinsic benefits of getting students outside more often. Camp Oty’Okwa was glad we could help CMS in that endeavor.”
