SAUGUS — A 6th grade science teacher is bringing the universe into America’s classrooms.
Kim Martino, a teacher at the Belmonte Middle School, was one of 50 teachers chosen from more than 6,000 applicants nationwide to serve as a teacher advisor in a project with a team from WGBH and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
WGBH was awarded about $10 million from NASA in 2016 to complete the five-year project to develop teaching models and digital media tools for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teaching and learning for grades K-12.
The resources will include videos, interactive programs, data and data visualizations, lesson plans, student activities, and other multimedia content. They will be distributed and made available to millions of students and teachers nationally for free through PBS LearningMedia.
Martino is in her ninth year of teaching sixth grade at the school and her passion is sharing her knowledge with children in hopes that they will love science as much as she does, she said.
She also spends time coaching robotics at Belmonte, and started an after-school science club. Her favorite project tasks her students with building Mars Rovers and exploring whether Mars can be colonized. Martino developed the lesson plan herself and submitted as part of the initial application process.
“It involves math, research, and writing,” she said. “It’s all encompassing.”
Being involved in the project has been beneficial to her students because they are exposed to many learning resources. Teacher advisors are tasked with advising WGBH educators on the development of the resources to drive student learning. Last year, Martino presented them with a module on the axial tilts of the earth and comparing them to those of the planets and the sun to discover if any planets may have areas of similar weather to earth, and if any could be sustainable to life.
“She’s the sixth grade science hero,” said School Committeewoman Elizabeth Marchese who visited Martino’s classroom to watch students work on the Mars Rover project last year. “That class is a kid’s dream.”