The Pinellas County School District is expanding science labs for elementary schools.

  • 75 district elementary schools now have science lab
  • Teachers say it provides hands-on science learning
  • Second-graders attending for the first time

Starting this school year, all but one of the district's 76 elementary schools have a science lab. Also this year, second-graders will be attending labs for the first time.

Third through fifth-graders go to lab for an entire school week five times throughout the school year. Second-graders go at least eight times a year.

"The best way to learn science is doing science and getting messy and digging in and actually doing it," said fifth-grade teacher Becky Nash. "Most kids can't learn by reading it in a text book. They need to actually do it, and the science lab is the perfect time to do that because they get a full week of nothing but hands on."

Fifth-grader Addison Williams said she prefers science lab to the monotony of classroom learning.


Students have spent time exploring the concepts of force and motion by building cars. (Sara Belsole, Spectrum Bay News 9)

"I feel like you learn more when you actually do the experiment instead of watching and letting your teacher tell you," Williams said.

Nash said she is seeing increased test scores as a result of science lab. Students are also learning collaborative, real-life skills. The district decides what to teach in science lab by looking at concepts students seem to be struggling with.

For a week in November, fifth-graders explored the concepts of force and motion by building cars. They tracked how far the cars could go and made adjustments to increase distance.

"It sometimes feels playing, and you get to learn how to experiment with other things and things you could do out of school," Williams said.