Des Moines teacher brings science to the sidewalks

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It was in July, four months after Iowa schools shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Greg Barord finally found an educational use for the sidewalk chalk he had lying around.

The marine biology teacher at Des Moines Public School District’s Central Campus said he missed teaching and talking to students about sea creatures.

“I made some coffee, took the extra chalk outside, and just started drawing,” he told the Des Moines Register. “I wanted to use what I had to make something about the animals I love.”

He first drew one of his favorite aquatic animals, a nautilus, on the sidewalk July 16 outside his house, and also wrote facts and figures about the creature. And just like that, ”#sidewalkscience” was born on Central Campus’ marine science accounts on Facebook and Twitter, where students and families have responded with excitement.

Early on, Barord stuck mostly to drawing cephalopods — a group of intelligent aquatic animals including nautiluses, squid and octopi — and wrote brief but engaging lessons around them.

“With uncertainty about what education has been like, projects like this, sort of fun ways to keep learning — it’s been something I think a lot of people are happy to get the chance to engage with,” he said.

It’s become a near-daily effort that has been boosted by chalk donations from some community members, Barord said. That’s important since some lessons can take up to three boxes.

Barord is hoping the excitement will continue into the school year. Central Campus is kicking off the academic year Tuesday, Sept. 8. Marine biology students will have less time in the classroom than usual in the beginning of the year due to the school district’s hybrid model, which will have students split...