A class of Compass Academy biology students from Idaho Falls School District 91 are learning complicated scientific material in a new way this year, through teaching it.

Students in the biology class worked for more than a month to make educational books from scratch. They had to brainstorm an idea, create a rough draft, make animations, edit their work and then edit it a few more times.

Compass students had to ensure that their books could be understood not only by their teacher or their peers but by the third-grade students at Dora Erickson Elementary school, who they would be teaching once the project was completed.

Compass Academy works to develop “innovative creators through project- and problem-based learning” with students frequently working in groups.

This is biology facilitator Nancy Davis’ first year at Compass, but she feels her new approach connects with the school’s mission and is one that will continue to benefit both her students and the elementary students they are working with.

“This is the very first year we have done this project, but it is one I plan on doing many more times in the future,” Davis said. “It not only connected our students with others in the district but, through project-based learning, has really helped my students to gain a deeper understanding of the information in front of them.”

Getting the idea through a project her daughter was doing in a college class, Davis wanted to ensure throughout the process that the students were learning what they needed to from the experience and not simply getting out of regular testing.

“I was about halfway through the project and I was contemplating if we were getting enough out of it, I was wondering if they were learning what they needed to learn,” Davis said. “As we started the revision process, I realized that there was no way they could really understand and write these books if they did not actually know the material.”

Davis wanted the project to feel less like the lecture, quiz, test formula she had seen throughout the education world, opting for a more “interesting and engaging way to learn the content without rote memorization.

“As they write books about in-depth scientific material in a way that younger students can understand, they gain a deeper understanding than they ever could simply listening to me lecture,” Davis said.

The high schoolers interviewed Dora Erickson Elementary School about their interests, their reading levels and what they look for in books. Suggestions of pretty pictures, interesting topics and dinosaurs were all introduced and with that information, the high school students had a hard job to do. The Compass Academy students were tasked with writing a book the third-graders could not only visually enjoy, but one that helped them to better understand principles such as protein synthesis and ribonucleic acid.

“It went amazing,” Davis said. “It was a real challenge for my students.

“Some students wanted to start writing immediately and get things done before they actually understood what they were learning and how to teach it. They quickly realized that they had to learn and grow in their development and understanding first, before they could help someone else do the same.”

Davis said that while some students found the project difficult to really get into, most really enjoyed it and they all learned about the topics in far greater detail than they had previously retained.

“The third-graders might have helped the high-school students more than we were able to help them,” Davis said.

Some of the Compass Academy students made a lot of their own illustrations, relevant to each page of written subject matter and some used stock photos but poured more effort into the writing portion. Some made digital eBooks while other printed out hard copies.

“It was great because they used their own strengths,” Davis said. “A big part of my job is helping them to realize and develop those strengths and I love being a part of it.”

After the books were completed, Davis set up an appointment for the class to go back to the elementary school and share the books with the third-graders.

The high school students then held interviews again, asking the younger students if they understood what they read and if they liked the books.

“One of my students even incorporated her third-grader’s name in her book,” Davis said. “Everyone involved loved the project and learned throughout the process. I learned, my students learned, the third-graders learned, their teachers did — it was just great.

“It’s not learning to take a test, it’s about creating. It’s about helping someone understand and fueling them to have purpose and need behind learning. Compass Academy is about project-based, authentic learning.”