{"id":9171,"date":"2012-06-22T14:04:44","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T18:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=9171"},"modified":"2012-06-22T14:12:46","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T18:12:46","slug":"superheroes-want-to-rescue-florida-science-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/06\/22\/superheroes-want-to-rescue-florida-science-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Superheroes Want To Rescue Florida Science Education"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_9172\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 578px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/06\/22\/superheroes-want-to-rescue-florida-science-education\/stn-bizcard\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9172\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9172\" title=\"STN Bizcard\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2012\/06\/STN-Bizcard.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"578\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2012\/06\/STN-Bizcard.jpg 578w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2012\/06\/STN-Bizcard-300x187.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Superhero Training Network<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Superhero Training Network Business Card<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: This post was written by WUSF&#8217;s Mark Schreiner.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sam DuPont and Audrey Buttice were once mild-mannered USF Ph.D. students.<\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0a\u00a0National\u00a0Science\u00a0Foundation-funded\u00a0fellowship program, they\u2019d visit elementary schools around the Tampa area and do science demonstrations. But they thought that they could reach more students by videotaping their work\u2014they just needed a hook.<\/p>\n<p>DuPont\u00a0says they found their answer while waiting in line at Disney World.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At first we\u2019re like, \u2018Pirates!\u2019 and we\u2019re like, \u2018Nah, that\u2019s not good.\u2019 Then we\u2019re like, \u2018Clowns!\u2019 and we\u2019re like, \u2018Ah, that\u2019s a little\u00a0too juvenile,\u2019 and then we were like, \u2018Ah, I got it, superheroes!\u2019 and from there, that\u2019s history!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, along\u00a0with\u00a0classmate Robert Bair, they came up\u00a0with new alter egos and a\u00a0back story&#8211;a\u00a0lab accident that transformed them from\u00a0normal scientists to super-powered\u00a0members of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.superherotrainingnetwork.com\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">The Scientific League of\u00a0Superheroes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>DuPont\u00a0became\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.superherotrainingnetwork.com\/megabyte.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>MegaByte<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0part-android\u00a0with a computer in his brain, giving him\u00a0enhanced intelligence\u00a0and strength.\u00a0Buttice\u00a0became\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.superherotrainingnetwork.com\/sublimation.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Sublimation<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0with the ability to change from\u00a0a corporal form into a gaseous\u00a0one, enabling her to sneak into small spaces or under doors, as\u00a0well as disappear. And Bair became\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.superherotrainingnetwork.com\/superconductor.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Superconductor<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0taking\u00a0on the\u00a0ability\u00a0to conduct\u00a0heat and electricity.<\/p>\n<p>While they\u00a0fight\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.superherotrainingnetwork.com\/villians.html\" target=\"_blank\">villains<\/a> like Big Bang,\u00a0Maelstrom and their archenemy, Dr. Entropy, Buttice says their real mission is getting students to love science.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/05\/11\/hispanic-students-boost-florida-scores-in-8th-grade-science-assessment\/\">Hispanic Students Boost Florida Scores In 8th Grade Science Assessment<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/05\/01\/five-reasons-rick-scott-believes-florida-polytechnic-makes-sense\/\">Five Reasons Why Gov. Rick Scott Believes Florida Polytechnic \u201cMakes\u00a0Sense\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2011\/11\/22\/the-top-5-industries-creating-jobs-in-florida\/\">The Top 5 Industries Creating Jobs in Florida<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2011\/10\/4290846294_c9483c6494_m-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/topic\/stem\/\">Explaining Florida\u2019s STEM Education\u00a0Plan<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs somebody who likes science, I\u2019ll watch the most boring science video ever,&#8221; she admits, &#8220;but if I don\u2019t love science, what makes me watch something that I can grow and learn as a scientist, so we thought that superhero\u00a0is something that can engage and pull those students in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bair adds that the dual roles they play\u2014scientist and\u00a0superhero\u2014increases the chances students will be drawn in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of interesting because some kids really relate to the superheroes and some of the kids love the scientist, and so we get a good mix between the students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working with very limited assistance and resources,\u00a0the\u00a0trio is producing a series of 20-plus minute long\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/superherotrainingnet\" target=\"_blank\">Superhero Training Network videos<\/a>. While the episodes are heavy on comic book effects and storyline, DuPont says the most important thing is getting the science right.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe follow the Hillsborough County School curriculum very closely,&#8221; DuPont\u00a0said.\u00a0&#8220;That\u2019s what we feel\u2019s very important so that teachers actually can use our videos in the classroom without kind of getting off track with what they actually need to accomplish with the students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And beyond science,\u00a0Bair says they focus on the other components of STEM education\u2014technology, engineering and math.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause most kids love building things, but then, when it comes to math, they hate it, and they don\u2019t view those\u00a0things as essential, which, now as a grad student, I know it\u2019s essential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Superheroes also continue to make in-class visits to the four Hillsborough County schools currently using the videos. We caught up with them as they visited fifth graders at <a href=\"http:\/\/maniscalco.mysdhc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Maniscalco Elementary School\u00a0<\/a>in Lutz.<\/p>\n<p>The hour long presentation is fast-paced, with a lot of questions for the students, as well as two separate hands-on experiments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you perform an experiment, and you see the results of your activity,\u00a0that is by far one of the best learning\u00a0experiments,&#8221;\u00a0according to DuPont. &#8220;All a teacher or a trainer can do is to help guide the students to getting to that point where they\u2019re doing things with their own hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6jeqNIPkTVY\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The students\u00a0also\u00a0enjoyed\u00a0the\u00a0experience, with &#8216;fun&#8217; being the key\u00a0component.<\/p>\n<p>Parker Hertenstein:\u00a0\u201cThey\u00a0(the experiments) were pretty easy and\u00a0they were like good instructors,\u00a0it was very simple and it was very fun to actually\u00a0do\u00a0the things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Madeline\u00a0Macaluso:\u00a0\u201cIt was fun to get the hands-on learning experience and just be able to kind of do it yourself\u00a0to make you seem like a real scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The League\u2019s work is paying off.\u00a0According to\u00a0Maniscalco 5th grade teacher\u00a0Michelle Clinton, the students&#8217;\u00a0test scores\u00a0improved after\u00a0only a few visits from\u00a0the superheroes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe took our mid-year assessment in December, we noticed a huge, huge jump in our students\u2019 knowledge data-wise in conductors and\u00a0insulators for example, and that was one of the main things that they did when they came out in October.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Scientific League of\u00a0Superheroes is\u00a0going to try to expand the\u00a0program beyond the four schools\u00a0they\u00a0currently visit, and maybe even\u00a0add 3rd,\u00a04th and 6th grade levels&#8211;ages that\u00a0many STEM programs don&#8217;t currently reach, despite the\u00a0fact that it&#8217;s the ideal time to engage young students.\u00a0Buttice says they&#8217;d also like to\u00a0conduct a pilot\u00a0study on the program&#8217;s effectiveness next school year.\u00a0And beyond that?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019re hoping to create a video series that can be utilized in elementary schools everywhere, Florida, the nation, however far we can get\u00a0it,\u201d Buttice\u00a0says with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p>However,\u00a0there\u2019s a\u00a0bit of\u00a0Kryptonite that\u2019s sapping\u00a0the strength of\u00a0these superheroes\u00a0right\u00a0now: that\u00a0National Science Foundation grant that funds their work runs out\u00a0later this summer.<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0DuPont says that&#8217;s not going to\u00a0change their mission of helping\u00a0young people realize that there\u2019s a world of knowledge just waiting for them to discover it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels great to see the excitement in the students\u2019 eyes.\u00a0When they start looking at what we do and say, \u2018I want to do what you do when I grow up,\u2019 that makes, that\u2019s all the reward I could ever ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KBCtpoFkEAU\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor&#8217;s note: This post was written by WUSF&#8217;s Mark Schreiner. Sam DuPont and Audrey Buttice were once mild-mannered USF Ph.D. students. As\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0a\u00a0National\u00a0Science\u00a0Foundation-funded\u00a0fellowship program, they\u2019d visit elementary schools around the Tampa area and do science demonstrations. But they thought that they could reach more students by videotaping their work\u2014they just needed a hook. DuPont\u00a0says they found [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":9172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[1082,1090],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9179,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9171\/revisions\/9179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}