Real World Math and Science With ExploreLearning Gizmos

Julie Houck teaches 3rd-grade math, science, and social studies at Defiance Elementary School in Ohio, a public school with 62% of students receiving free and reduced lunch. In her classroom, Houck has ELL, special education, and gifted students.

Houck was one of the teachers who brought ExploreLearning Reflex to her school. Once she heard about Gizmos, she was excited to try it because “I know the quality products ExploreLearning creates!”

Once she started using Gizmos for math and science, Houck was impressed with their interactivity and the many resources available to help teach with them.

“I also feel Gizmos help create a positive attitude toward learning math. I have had several students that did not really like math share that they now like math this year! One important topic in 3rd-grade math is multiplication, and Gizmos help students develop a visual understanding of how multiplication works,” says Houck.

Math and science Gizmos in the real world

Houck has her students use Gizmos as starting points for learning and then transfer it to an authentic learning environment. “For example, my students did Critter Count focusing on multiplication. After that, I had students ‘become scientists’ and sort insects using similar strategies developed through the Gizmos experience,” she says.

“I also work with a youth leadership group that I plan to take on a boat on the Great Lakes to explore science and math on the water,” continues Houck. “We will be doing water testing and coming back to my community to plan an action project around what we learned, using the Water Contamination Interactive STEM Case to explore this. I also do water testing in my classroom by bringing in local water sources. I believe it is important to provide both real and virtual experiences for students to learn STEM.”

“I have used a lot of other resources in the past, but I prefer Gizmos. The product is so easy to use and allows students to make choices in their learning.”

Houck says, “I know from experience and research how active learning is more effective. I have had students participate in research studies when our local college hosted a STEM camp and studied the impact on student learning.”