Science projects get Springfield kids fired

Pupils and teacher swap roles -- with entertaining results.
By ANGIE SCHMITT
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Matt Tentinger looms large over his eighth-grade science classmates at Springfield Intermediate School, perched on a chair at the front of the classroom.
"Welcome to the Volcanic Museum of Science," says his classmate and group-presentation partner Olivia Buzzacco.
She points at Matt: "This is Fugimama."
Minutes later, Matt descends from his pedestal. He's wearing island-print swimming trunks specifically for the presentation, in which he portrays a statue come to life.
With a trickle of vinegar, he stimulates a model volcano to erupt. Then he stuns classmate Brad Stevens with a calculator and pauses to flex his muscles, while Olivia hits the lights. A PowerPoint presentation lights the chalkboard, as pupils giggle in the darkness.
"If you are watching this, a volcano has just erupted and your tour guide has escaped," reads fellow presenter Jessica Heydle.
"To keep yourself busy between now and your upcoming death, watch for interesting information."
With that, the group of four from Pat Ivan's science class launches into a presentation on volcanos.
50-minute presentations
Every day for the past week and a half, a different group of pupils has taken the floor for an entire 50-minute class period, teaching their classmates about "natural earth changes" such as earthquakes and volcanos.
"They had a lot of freedom on how they put these things together," said Ivan. "Their goal was to teach the rest of the class about their expertise on the project."
Pupils such as Matt and Olivia have been preparing for nine weeks. Their group even skipped lunch to prepare for its multidimensional presentation. The project is the year's biggest for Ivan's pupils.
In an earlier presentation, science pupil Jake Johnson and his group constructed a model of a city in the throes of an earthquake.
The group used strings to simulate the phenomenon's destructive power.
"They have to look at how these earth changes form," said Ivan. "Then with the simulation, you have to look at the effects both short-term and long-term."
When Brad and Jessica finish cowering on the classroom floor in safety goggles and surgical masks -- their safety lesson in the aftermath of a volcano -- they begin quizzing their classmates on the presentation.
"What can cause a volcano to erupt," Matt asks the class. "An avalanche, a tornado, an earthquake or my teacher?"
Ivan chuckles.
"The things they come up with!" she said. "I could never teach them as much as they're teaching themselves."