Author: Dr. Seyide EROĞLU

We wanted to emphasize the importance of the concept of “Hygiene” as a school within the scope of the 2020 STEM Discovery Campaign activities. In particular, we wanted to raise awareness among students about the “COVID 19” pandemic, which has influenced the whole world. For this purpose, first of all, the importance of hygiene was explained to the students in an online meeting. Since we were far from the school environment, all the studies were carried out online.

Hygienic conditions were examined with the students. The following open-ended questions were asked to direct students to research and inquiry:

1. What is hygiene?
2. Why is hygiene important?
3. What is a Hygienic Environment?
4. What are personal hygiene rules?
5. What does disinfection mean?

Apart from these, questions that emphasized science concepts were also highlighted. In this way, a subject was associated with science acquisition. Some of these questions are listed below:

6. What does microorganism mean?
7. Which of the following do the bacteria need to multiply?

In daily life, what was done about disinfection was discussed. In particular, students were made to realize why disinfection is needed and where it is needed. Answers from students are listed. They were then asked to make a disinfectant to protect themselves and their families. Necessary information was provided about this. The students were asked to research which materials can be used as disinfectants. It was determined with the students which of these materials could be suitable for human health. The task of each component in the content of disinfectant is emphasized.

In this process with students, STEM disciplines were taken into consideration: general properties of substances used in disinfectant making, solution formation, properties of chemical compounds, microorganisms (science); quantity calculations used in creating solutions (mathematics); creating videos with web 2 tools (technology); experiment design (engineering). The students carried out their experiments at their homes. During the disinfectant making, the students saw the effect of different chemicals by experimenting. Apart from this, students gained experience in creating solutions.

Students shared their experiments by shooting videos using different web tools. Students in their experimental designs; They paid attention to certain criteria such as introducing the materials, performing the experiment in a certain order and sharing the results.

Video sharing was done on Google Classroom. In this way, students could see each other’s work and leave a comment. In this way, “peer assessment” was provided.

Student videos had also been uploaded on YouTube platform. Qr codes were created for this link. In this way, in this study, students used many web tools together. Therefore, the development of technology literacy was supported.

At the end of the study, together with the students, these videos were turned into e-books. While creating the e-books, different web tools were used.

At the end of the regulations, an e-book was created with the students. Please read it here!

In addition, a poster was designed with students to be used as a book cover.

Thanks to this study, which aimed at the students achieving many gains. First of all, students’ awareness was raised about “COVID 19”, which is a current subject. This current subject was associated with the course outcomes, enabling students to transfer what they learned in the lessons to daily life. An interdisciplinary perspective was adopted throughout the study. In this way, students used different disciplines together. In addition, students’ 21st-century skills such as digital literacy, scientific creativity, research questioning, and teamwork were developed. In addition, the slogan “Science is Everywhere” was emphasized in this study. In this way, students were provided with a different activity, positive attitude towards science and motivation towards the lesson.

Finally, with this activity, students’ orientation towards science careers was supported. Study activities are shared on the school website.