The landscape at local schools these days is ever-evolving. Instead of spending all day at desks learning one of a few basic subjects, more and more emphasis has been placed on both STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and project-based learning as a way to enhance and enrichen the experience for students.

For seventh- and eighth-grade students in Christy Leopard’s science classes at Tanner High School, that project-based learning took the form of multiple weather balloon launches.

Leopard said she and her students are participating in a program in partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntvsille in order to learn more about subjects related to STEM.

The program is called DETECTS, short for Data Evaluation from Testing via an Educational Challenge with Teachers and Students.

The students were divided into 14 teams and tasked with developing scientific experiments with high-altitude balloons. The program will last for 13 weeks, and the Tanner students will have their work compared to their peers from other schools in the area.

“They were given a choice of eight science questions from UAH engineers,” Leopard said. “They chose one of those questions, and they are investigating answers. We release the balloon, and based on the data collected hopefully we will be able to answer our science question.”

Leopard and her students took to a field at Tanner High on Tuesday, Oct, 26, in order to launch six different balloons. Different groups of students were given separate tasks, with some aiding in the actual launch while others would collect data once it came in.

The class can monitor information from the six balloons using Google Earth. They are also tasked with collecting that information and sharing it with engineers at UAH.

“We are given a template for Google slides, and we have Google meets with UAH,” Leopard said. “They ask us questions, and we present our Google slides with our information.”

Leopard said project-based learning units like this are “extremely important for students in the modern era.

“Hands-on projects are their favorite things to do,” she said. “These are the things they remember the most. We can sit in the classroom and do study guides and vocabulary, but this is what they will remember. It has a huge impact on them because they are more engaged.”