The University of North Carolina-Greensboro’s (UNC-G) BioMusic Program and the Center for New North Carolinians (CNNC), the Guilford County School System’s McNair Elementary School (Title I), and the Greensboro Nature Science Center (NSC) are partners in a Burroughs-Wellcome Fund project entitled, “UBEATS: A BioMusic STEM Intervention for ESL Students in Guilford County”.
This UBEATS program targets recent immigrant students in grades 4/5 and 6-8 in informal STEM learning environments using STEM content focused on the ‘science of music’. Students explore music-making from a variety of STEM areas (e.g., biology, physics, animal communication, evolution, neuroscience, psychology ) by using techniques that underscore connections between music and mind, body, and the natural world. They also hear from professionals about careers in science that are dependent on understanding sound and animal communication. Their families receive annual passes to the Greensboro Science Center.
Two UBEATS weeklong summer camps hosted ESL students at McNair Elementary School and Haw River State Park in Year One; and Gateway Research Park and Paperhand Puppet Company in Year Two. Academic Year (AY) UBEATS Clubs at the Greensboro Science Center in Year One and Year Two feature science research with live animals and technology.
Year One’s Capstone Event – The Wild Music Festival – was presented on May 9th, 2015 at the Greensboro Science Center and included:
- Students iPod recordings of sounds environments and animal sounds resulting in a soundmap of the GSC.
- Students conducted interviews with their family members that produced a compendium of vivid memories of sounds from their countries of origin. These resulted in a Global Sound Map.
- Documentary – Four high school ESL student mentors worked closely with Time Warner Cable news producer, Teal Tyszka, to make a documentary about the UBEATS project that premiered at the Wild Music Festival.
Year Two’s Capstone Event – The Wild Music Festival – will be presented May 14, 2016 at the Greensboro
Science Center and includes:
- Puppet Shows. 3 Puppet Shows developed over the UBEATS Club year by the UBEATS children and mentored by Claire Simpson, graduate student in UNCG’s Children’s Theatre Program. Each puppet show is based on stories developed by the children about a species of live animal at the GSC – Penguins, Gibbons, and Tigers – and translates the science about each species through story telling and puppetry. Children and extended families participated in making puppet costumes and scenery. The performances feature the UBEATS children as the puppeteers and the scenery.
- Documentary. Four high school ESL Students mentored by Jacqui Haggerty, Paper Bridge Media & Production, LLC, work as a team to create a 2nd documentary about the UBEATS program. It will be premiered at the Wild Music Festival for UBEATS children and families, friends, and the public.