Learning is amplified at Saint Mary’s School

Maggie Grace Brinson, Jacob Johnson, Shayleigh Floener and Madi Parker

SMS is using a new program called Amplify Science. We have had a lot of fun with Amplify Science. We use different programs like simulators, articles, tools, and hands-on activities.

In the simulator, we make plate boundaries and watch the plate motion move! We learned about convergent and divergent boundaries. Convergent means the plates overlap and one plate goes underground and melts into magma. Divergent means they move apart and it creates a mountain. That is what we have done with the simulator in our unit.

Another thing we do in Amplify Science is read the Articles feature. Some articles we have read are Plate Motion, Life On Mars, and Measosurus. When you read the articles you learn a lot. You can highlight what’s important and make notes and questions, since Amplify is all online.

Experiments are models that you can make. In one unit, we made a flowing channel. It was like a small river. In a different unit, we got a cube and silly putty to represent a hard solid and a soft solid. We also used classroom objects to show a convergent and divergent boundary. We answer questions online with each experiment.

One of the other activities in Amplify is the sorting tool into categories. One thing that we have done in tools was sorting out what could help us figure out if Mars had lava or water on it. We can do tools online or on paper.

Amplify Science is awesome! It always has the perfect activities for what grade or skill level you are on. It makes learning science so much fun!