Global perspective at Ferri

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Sixth-graders at Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School in Johnston recently received a unique view of the world – quite literally from the inside out – when they stepped inside EarthView, a portable globe classroom.

Once inside the 20-foot-tall balloon, which was set up in the Ferri gymnasium, Bridgewater State University geography professors Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan and Dr. Vernon Domingo gave the students a brief geography lesson infused with bits of history, science, and culture.

“We are hoping to support programs in social science and geography, to help energize them and to help reinforce the things the students are learning in class,” Hayes-Bohanan said. “But also we find that EarthView generates a lot of curiosity and helps students and adults to see things in a different light, to see things from a different perspective … So it really helps to flex that spatial thinking muscle.”

This is the second year Ferri social studies teacher Carolyn Carnevale and her fellow Team 6 White teachers have arranged for their students to take part in the EarthView program, which is a joint endeavor of the Department of Geography and the Center for the Advancement of STEM Education at Bridgewater.

“As much as we are a global society and everything is on the Internet, the students don’t know where these places are,” Carnevale said. “They just can’t picture it. They see maps that are flat, and when they look on the globe, they only see different parts. With this they get to see it from a whole different perspective, so maybe it will help them want to know more about different places in the world and get them more interested in finding out where does my family come from and where do my ancestors come from. If I’m reading a book, knowing where it takes place.”

Or even, as Dr. Domingo pointed out, perhaps inspiring a student to go on to study geography in college.

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