Wonders of Our World (WOW) is a collaborative science outreach education program between active scientists and elementary school teachers
The Wonders of Our World (WOW) science outreach program brings creative, hands-on science experiments to elementary school classrooms (grades K-5). The program was founded by Dr. Susan Olesik and began in November 1999 as a collaborative effort with the teaching staff at Chapman Elementary in the Dublin City Schools.
Today, the WOW program works with three Columbus City Elementary Schools at a time, adopting each school for three years. In this three-year period, we span a variety of science unit topics (from biology, chemistry, and physics to electricity, sound, plants, space, and more) and visit every classroom once a month. Visit the WOW Units and Experiments page to learn more about the specific unit topics and gain a more in-depth look at the experiments themselves.
WOW Goals
- Supplement the existing science programs in elementary schools
- Bring the excitement of science discoveries into the classroom
- Increase the science materials that elementary school teachers are comfortable presenting to their students
- Increase the involvement of local scientists, parents, and undergraduate students in community projects
- Generate a pathway that gives school teachers easy access to scientists at the Ohio State University and other local science enclaves
- Establish a model for other scientists to assist science programs within other elementary schools
How W.O.W. Enhances Elementary School Science
- Partnering teachers and scientists
- Providing volunteer support for teachers as they implement exciting hands-on experiments in their classrooms
- Enriching scientific content in schools
- Donating scientific equipment to schools
- And most importantly, getting children, teachers, and volunteers excited about science!
How W.O.W. Works
- A professional development/teacher training workshop is held at the beginning of each WOW unit. During this workshop, teachers learn about the WOW experiments, request experiments that are grade-appropriate, and schedule their program times.
- Volunteer workshops for Ohio State students and Affiliate Organization employees are conducted prior to the classroom visits.
- Each K-5 classroom at WOW schools is visited once per unit for a total of 5 visits per academic year. During these visits, WOW volunteers facilitate hands-on experiments with students that were selected by the classroom teacher.
- Following each unit, experiments are critiqued and adjusted based on feedback from all WOW parties.