SCIENCE CAN BE FUN — Pugliese West Elementary teacher Heather Ramsey shows kindergarteners how to play a spider-themed game after completing a unit on the arachnid with her Mystery Science program. Participating with her are, from left, front, Mia Mocakanja, Bo Evans, Chase Martin and Taylor Shores with Gwen Orr and Zayn John in the back. -- Contributed

STEUBENVILLE — Students at Pugliese West Elementary are learning about the world around them through project-based learning with the school’s Mystery Science program. 

Now in its second year, Mystery Science offers a glimpse into interesting subjects from creepy crawlies to the environment. Teacher Heather Ramsey transports her mobile cart full of books, materials and specimens to each of the grade K-4 classrooms and leads youngsters in fun and informational lessons. Students recently completed a unit on spiders which involved collecting a few of the arachnids and understanding their parts and function. Following a brief overview of what they learned, which included facts that the spider was an arachnid with spinnerets that make silk for webs, she engaged kindergartners in a fun game. The goal was to use a small contraption to propel plastic spiders onto a laminated drawing of a spider web. 

Ramsey said the program offers students another form of learning that is fun and engaging. Among her other topics were worms, which was related to the school garden, and she is looking to possibly begin a pollinator garden in the future. 

“We were also looking at the weather and ants [as subjects] because they learned interesting facts,” she said. 

Principal Lynnett Gorman added that the hands-on learning is essential and the students enjoy it. 

“Heather was interested in cultivating the garden, and every time the students would go to the garden they learned something about it. The kids also love the experiments,” Gorman said. “We wanted to do more project-based learning experiences and have more hands-on education on a daily basis. The kids can work in cooperative teams and be engaged in age-appropriate lessons (based on grade level.) It’s essentially bringing the curriculum to life.” 

Kindergarten students Malaina Bauman and Hudson Utz said they learned a lot, especially about spiders. 

“I like the spider game at the end of the unit,” said Bauman. 

“I really like how we learned about spinnerets where the webs come out,” added Utz.