Fun is definitely a big part of the curriculum in Stephen Foster Elementary School’s Academy of Math, Science and Technology. On any given day, students in the Academy may be designing and building roller coasters, shooting off bottle rockets or planting tulips. But they’re also learning, and their outstanding scores on the challenging FCAT science test prove it.

This year, 100% of the students in the school’s magnet program met the state’s high standards of achievement on the science test, compared to the statewide average of about 35%. Principal Darla Boyd credits the hands-on approach used at the school for the students’ success.

“They’re doing a lot of the things that real scientists do—observing, recording data, analyzing the results, using technology,” said Boyd. “They’re putting into practice the things they’re learning in the classroom.”

During the school year, for example, the students planted a tulip garden around the school’s flagpole. By communicating online with other students across the globe who had also planted garden, the Foster students were able to track the progress of spring across the Northern Hemisphere. And the learning didn’t stop when the school year ended. Most of the Academy students also attended a week-long summer session. The highlight of the week was shooting off rockets they made out of soda bottles, water, newspaper and other materials—an activity that taught them about Newton’s Laws of Motion.

“Learning should be fun,” said teacher Emma Brady. “If these kids grow up knowing that learning is fun, they’ll want to keep on learning.”

And why would the students give up a week of their summer vacations to spend more time in school? All agreed that ‘fun’ was the key word.

“I like doing all these science projects,” said fifth-grader Kirsten Atkinson. “It’s really fun.”

“You get to do activities, fun things like blasting off rockets,” agreed classmate Vanessa Quilao.

“Building rockets is fun, more than just sitting at a table and reading out of a book,” said Brenan Wayland.

Boyd says the students in the Academy are not the only ones benefiting from the school’s hands-on approach to teaching science. Every student at the school spends time weekly in the science lab, and all students are encouraged to participate in the school’s Wednesday Science Club after school program, which means every student gets lots of exposure to the scientific concepts covered by the FCAT test. As a result, the performance of non-Academy students was twice as good as the statewide average on the FCAT science test this year.

Brady says the benefits of the science curriculum also spill over into other academic subjects.

“When we do these hands-on activities, we cover so many of the Sunshine State benchmarks in math, in reading, in writing,” she said. “Then when it’s time to take the tests, the students really rise to the occasion.”