DUNEDIN, Fla. — It’s a decommissioned school bus turned mobile science lab, and it will be traveling to middle schools all over Pinellas County.
Pinellas County Schools designed the “Innovation Lab” to give all seventh-graders an opportunity to do hands-on STEM activities outside the classroom. It’s all part of the district’s push to improve the middle school experience.
What You Need To Know
Pinellas County Schools turned a decommissioned school bus into a mobile science lab called the “Innovation Lab”
The bus will travel to all Pinellas County middle schools, giving students an opportunity to do hands-on STEM activities
The Innovation Lab is part of the district’s push to improve the middle school experience
The Innovation Lab school bus looks a lot different than it used to after employees from 11 different departments worked on renovating it, turning it into a state-of-the-art mobile laboratory, bringing hands-on activities to students.
“They’re going to use robots, they’re going to do 3D printing. They get to experience thermoplastics and different dynamics with heat,” said Stephanie Hornick, the middle school science specialist.
“It really gives them a chance for that lab experience, and hands-on experience that they don’t always get in class.”
She said as the name implies, Pinellas County Schools is focused on providing innovative ways for students, specifically middle school students, to learn.
“Mr. Hendrick really challenged us to rethink middle school in Pinellas County and what we’re doing for middle school students to be more innovative and give them opportunities to really think outside of the classroom, and that’s where this was born from,” said Hornick.
The Innovation Lab will visit every middle school in the county, reaching more than 5,200 seventh graders. (Spectrum Bay News 9/Fallon Silcox)
At the Innovation Lab, students do things like building obstacle courses, then programming robots to successfully move through them. Inside the bus, students move through three stations.
Liam Ray, a seventh-grader at Dunedin Highland Middle School, said he would take a day on the innovation lab over sitting in science class anytime.
“Science classroom is mainly taking notes, while this, you get to do a lot of fun things and learn a lot of new stuff,” he said.
Which Hornick said is the goal.
“Middle school is a tough age, it’s a tough group, and they don’t always love school as much in middle school,” she said. “So, we wanted to find what’s going to get them to want to come to school, what’s going to get them excited about school, and for me, what’s going to get them excited about science.”
She hopes that eventually, that excitement leads these students to successful STEM careers.
The Innovation Lab will visit every middle school in the county, reaching more than 5,200 seventh graders. The district also has special science and STEM programs for sixth and eighth grade.
A grant provided the funding for the Innovation Lab.