‘Gross is Great…’ in Madison Rose Elementary School Teacher’s Science Class

PHOENIX –Feb. 13, 2008 – Madison Rose Elementary School teacher Richard Hawkins has a simple, yet unorthodox philosophy when it comes to education in general and teaching science in particular.  It can best be defined as “Gross is great…!”

Things often get a little sloppy as Hawkins’s fourth-grade students get all five of their senses involved while learning.  Before the average school day is through, Hawkins’s students might find themselves splashed during a unit on water, providing a living “critter” as a snack for the classroom’s aggressive large mouth bass, harvesting lettuce in the class garden, crushing owl pellets to learn about bone structure or simply putting their gag reflexes to the test while checking out x-rays of a smoker’s lungs.

Rest assured – it may be gross, but it is never boring!

It’s all in the name of teaching science….and social studies…and math.  Hawkins’s voice beams with enthusiasm when discussing some of the more unusual ways he captures his students’ attention. From the moment class starts, things are hardly business as usual.  He begins each day by reciting aloud: “I come to teach for 180 days!”  His students then respond: “We come to learn for 180 days!”

After that, things sometimes get a little gross!

“I think gross is great, particularly when it comes to science,” Hawkins said.  “It really gets the kids attention.  They are either totally grossed out and they’re sitting back watching what is happening, or they’re totally engrossed and they’re jumping hands and feet into what’s going on.”

Sometimes it can be a little of both.  Hawkins said that was recently the case when the class was studying owl pellets during a unit on bones.

“Some of the girls were so grossed out at first that they wouldn’t even touch the pellets,” Hawkins explained.   “But once we broke the pellets open, it totally changed.  I even had to remind them that while we were using all five senses to learn, they couldn’t use the taste sense in this unit!”

Hawkins doesn’t confine his lessons to the four walls of the class room – or even the school grounds.  He recently led his class to near-by Encanto Park to do a little fishing, and to learn first-hand about fish species and how humans can impact their environment.

Hawkins called the trip, “…a wonderful opportunity for students to actually be in the environment in which they are studying...”  During the trip, he covered techniques for catch-and-release fishing, the different species found in the lake and information about the various types of foods people eat.

Next up – his students will be digging in the dirt harvesting lettuce.  And later this year comes the unit where his students make homemade (or school-made) salsa from the garden.

Whatever the topic – there’s two things Hawkins’s students can be sure of.  It will probably be a little gross but it will definitely be engaging.

Click Here to View a Video that
Channel 3 Filmed of One of Richard's Outings