BOCES: Science 21 Showcases American Education

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A South Korean educational consultant travelled halfway around the world recently to visit Science 21 at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES to see how this innovative, hands-on science program works.

Byoung-Chi Choi said he learned about the Science 21 program from researching the use of live organisms in the classroom and wanted to see the program in action.

Science 21 is an integrated k-6 science curriculum that provides teachers with training and kits to conduct hands on experiments that connect science to students’ everyday lives.

“In South Korea, there is a lot of focus on digital devices in learning,” Choi said. “It is good to have those devices but education needs to be all about exposure. I would like to get students to realize there is an outside world.”

Right now, Choi said, South Korean children do not have the opportunity to work with live organisms in science. The Science 21 curriculum, on the other hand, includes units involving pill bugs, hermit crabs crayfish, triops (small crustaceans) and butterflies.

"The only way students are exposed to live organisms is if they live in the country where there are farm animals” but that is not an educational setting, Choi said. “It is one thing to raise a triop on a smart phone but it is very different from raising a triop in real life.”

Choi’s goal is to develop science kits involving learning activities with live organisms for use in South Korean schools.

During his visit to BOCES’ Yorktown campus Thursday, Choi first visited the area where Science 21 kits are assembled for school use. The kits contain all materials necessary to support each unit of study in the Science 21 curriculum.

Later, he observed a training session for fourth-grade teachers. The teachers were learning how to use a kit that teaches students how to follow procedures and make observations. Working in small groups, the teachers added colored freshwater to clear salt water and observed that the liquids did not mix but formed layers.

With kits and training, “BOCES has already set up school teachers so they can easily do these hands-on activities,” said Choi. “This is also needed in South Korea.”

Fred Ende, director of Science 21, said now that Choi has visited the Science 21 program he hopes to organize a web conference to bring American and South Korean educators together in the spring.

“It is an interesting opportunity for us to bring together folks in South Korean schools, the University of Seoul and the Ministry of Education to speak with educators here about how we approach science education," he said.

Marla Gardner, director of Curriculum and Instructional Services for BOCES, said “Mr. Choi is trying to set up a pilot to show the Ministry of Education the importance of exposing students to live organisms in the science curriculum and he is using us as one of his exemplary sites.”

Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES is one of 37 collaborative school districts. It supports local school districts by providing high-quality, cost effective services and programs in career and technical education, special education, curriculum and instruction, professional development and management services.