Students in Mrs. Tanya Hodges’ class at Ruskin Elementary have been using ClassVR sets in science. The ClassVR set is a virtual reality headset that puts students right in the middle of what they are learning. The experience is surreal! The students enjoy and discover new things through the ClassVR experience and are able to gain new perspectives and connect to the information they are learning in the classroom.
Recently, students participated in three different virtual experiences using the ClassVR set, including the states of matter, current electricity, and a wind turbine. The states of matter activity allowed the students to visually witness what happened to the particles as they were heated and cooled in a room. During the activity, the students observed the changes in solid, liquid, and gas by seeing the particles of an object change to and from each state.
The current electricity activity allowed the students to walk around a science lab with an electric circuit set up to multimeters while the wind turbine experience allowed the students to walk into the turbine and see the working parts. The students could visually see the wind being collected and used to create electricity, which they learned was human-harnessed electricity.
An added bonus to the Class VR set, is the writing connection that can be made. Mrs. Hodges has noticed an improvement in her students' writing because of the excitement of the activity and the connection from the experience to the science learning objectives.
Ruskin Elementary teachers are thrilled to use these headsets to give students an exciting learning experience. In science, many concepts are abstract and hard to visualize, but the ClassVR set brings those experiences to life for the students. When students have background knowledge and experience to connect with their education, there is no limit to what they can learn and explore. Donna Solomon is the principal of Ruskin Elementary School.
Left top: Victoria C.
Left bottom: Samya G.
Right: Charmekia W.