Hilton Head Island students try hands-on Science Day to prepare for SC Ready exam

Fourth-grade students at Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts took part in a hands-on Science Day designed to reinforce topics on the SC Ready Science exam, a BCTV bulletin reported.

A teacher described using professional learning community (PLC) data to identify areas needing improvement across fourth grade and said staff set up six stations that target those needs. "We purposely examined data in PLCs to see which areas needed improvement across fourth grade ... and we have set up six stations that actually delve into that data to allow students to have an opportunity to practice those skills again," the teacher said.

The stations cover topics such as plant structures, light waves, and weathering and erosion and are intended to let students practice critical thinking and observation. One student described a hands-on activity involving spinning toys: "I like the Beyblades. They was fun because we did like friction and colliding and then we counted how much it can spin and how much time it collided on the walls and together." Another student described building small paper flowers and using a flashlight exercise to learn about how eyes work.

The bulletin said students rotated through six interactive science stations, spending about 40 minutes at each stop. The segment identified Ron Lopes with the Beaufort County School District in the voiceover and pointed viewers to a full Science Day video on the district YouTube channel and to beaufortcountysc.gov/news for press releases.

The piece focused on classroom activities and said the experience aimed to boost student confidence for the SC Ready Science test; no policy decisions or funding details were discussed.