START (Students, Teachers, and Researchers Teach) Science, Inc. is a non-profit organization that aims to spark and keep aflame the excitement of public-school children for science. Their aims include advocacy for youth in low socioeconomic areas and exposure to hands-on science activities for youth. The program entails groups of College students leading hands-on science modules for classes of elementary school students. The activities are conducted with “START Leader” at each table of 3-4 students, allowing for more individualized attention. The program entails groups of College students leading hands-on science modules for classes of elementary school students. The activities are conducted with “START Leader” at each table of 3-4 students, allowing for more individualized attention.
Their mission is to encourage scientific, technological, engineering, and math education for children through hands-on learning and innovative teaching methods.
- Dedication to Science: Every START module focuses on one topic from a variety of STEM-related fields. The START curriculum for each class is designed according to the needs of the children being taught. They work with the teachers of the classes, the principals of the schools, and with the Board of Education material to integrate the START curriculum with the already-existing curriculum.
- Personalized: The high ratio of START volunteers to students (about 3:1) lets all the students participate in the activities and discuss the scientific content with college-age scientists. Additionally, the teacher remains in the room so that there are no disciplinary issues.
- Hands-on: START volunteers emphasize the hands-on activities which develop students’ intuition of the scientific principles taught. Favorite modules include building roller coasters to demonstrate conversion of mechanical energy, dissecting sheep hearts to study their anatomy, building gumdrop and toothpick bridges to test mechanical strength, and constructing circuits to learn about the flow of electricity.
START Toronto is one of their Canadian Chapters established in in 2017. START Toronto currently operates out of the University of Toronto Scarborough. They received an iPod touch from ERA. This iPod will be used for research purposes to run an online application for research participants. If you would like to learn more about this organization, please visit their website here.