What do you get when you combine flames, money and a group of high school students with a passion for automobiles? A love of science.
Students in Randy Barber’s Automotive Trades Technology at Capital Region BOCES, including Schoharie HS junior Kiertsen Acer, had their interest in the sciences fueled this week by a project that combined a torch, pennies and basic science.
Integrated Science Teacher Brian Conway led the students through an experiment that showed just what would happen if the pennies were treated with different chemicals and varying degrees of heat – in one instance turning the pennies silver and in another instance turning them gold.
“I am learning things I want to learn in a way I can learn them,” said one student.
Science, Math and English are integrated into the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School curriculum with students, depending on their program, learning one or two of those subjects as part of their career and technical education. The idea behind the integration is to allow students to earn those required subject credits for graduation while giving them a “real world” understanding of how math, science or English applies to career choices.
