We spend most of our time on any given trip educating teachers. Teachers need different types of support to be able to teach properly. Although school supplies are important, teacher training is the most important thing we can bring to a country like Afghanistan.
The Problem
The Afghan school system teaches largely by rote memorization. Students are expected to memorize facts and equations without any experiments, hands-on activities, or participation. One year, for example, our guide was a senior engineering student in the Kabul University. During his entire school career he had never once performed an experiment. What kind of engineers can a school system like this produce?
Our Solution
We teach hands-on, interactive lesson plans that engage students. The teachers learn the science behind the lesson, as well as how to engage the students in the lesson plans.
The Human Body
In our Human Body unit, we show the teachers how to teach about the cardiovascular, digestive, and muscular systems.
In the cardiovascular section, we drew a chalk outline of the lungs, heart, and body, connected by a system of veins, arteries and capillaries. Students act as red blood cells (teachers take their place in the pictures), and run through the system carrying either Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide cards, which we trade in the lungs and the body.
