STEM

Fayette County Schools Adopt Wireless Sensors for STEM Ed

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 09/14/16

Georgia's Fayette County Public Schools is adopting wireless sensors for use in STEM education across all 26 of its schools in an effort to encourage inquiry-based learning.

The district, which uses the Next Generation Science Standards, Project 2061's Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the Georgia Performance Standards, has selected Pasco Scientific's wireless line of sensors, which includes pH, pressure, temperature, current, conductivity, light, voltage and force and acceleration. Designed to simplify lab setup by eliminating the clutter of cables, the sensors are compatible with Windows, iOS, Android, OS X and Chrome.

The district will also adopt the company's Sparkvue data collection and analysis software and its Capstone data acquisition, display and analysis software, the latter for use in advanced placement courses.

"Fayette County Schools is dedicated to providing students with a world-class education," said Joseph C. Barrow, Jr., superintendent of Fayette County Public Schools, in a prepared statement. "We've implemented probeware products in kindergarten through 12th grade because we want students, even at an early age, to understand the nature of science. Science is not a body of knowledge for students to memorize; science is a way of knowing, and a way to make sense of the world around them. With the use of probeware products, students will be able to obtain and manipulate data in various forms, and communicate their findings in more efficient ways. This is essential as students look to advance and contribute knowledge of and to the world. Our teachers are excited about how this will transform their teaching and learning practices. We are most certainly excited about this partnership."