Dixon High School takes a hands-on approach to the sciences

To make Dixon High School’s curriculum more hands-on, the administration has made major changes to its lineup of science classes during the past two years.

To start, a new class – forensic science – was introduced, and experience chemistry and biology were restructured with a new curriculum. The biggest changes came at the start of the 2024-25 school year after a $2 million renovation project added a new classroom to host three new agriculture classes, which hadn’t been offered at the school since 1986, Science Department facilitator Ryan Deets said in an interview with Shaw Local.

It’s “just kind of changing with the times and adapting to the way that students learn today. Getting more hands-on stuff is much better for today’s learner,” and has “increased student engagement,” Deets said.

Deets teaches freshmen-level biology along with the newly added forensic science, which has “by far been a fan favorite for the kids,” he said.

As part of their arson unit, the class built model homes to burn to teach students about burn and smoke patterns. The largest models were made out of wood and drywall so that the fire behavior patterns would accurately reflect real-world scenarios, Deets said.

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Adalyn Hitt, a junior at Dixon High School, records her burning house model Tuesday, April 22, 2025, outside of Dixon High School. The forensics class at DHS built houses then set them ablaze to study burn patterns as an arson investigation. (Alex T. Paschal)

The class met outside the high school on April 22 to set their work ablaze while Dixon City Fire Chief Ryan Buskohl stood by to put out the fires. Afterwards, the models were deconstructed and studied to determine if the cause was arson, he said.

As for biology and experience chemistry: “While they’re not new courses, it’s a new way of teaching old courses,” Deets said.

The new curriculum is designed to promote hands-on learning, he said.

“It’s a lot more lab-based than it had previously been, and a lot more student-led discovery versus giving kids notes and having them write them down to learn,” Deets said.

The same is true for the school’s new agriculture classes – Intro to Agriculture, Animal Science and Horticulture – taught by new hire Miranda Moen. A fourth class, vet science, will also be added for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.

The summer 2024 renovations to the school’s career and technical education wing included repurposing an old room into a classroom and adding a doorway leading outside to the school’s greenhouse. Each of the three classes is, by nature, very hands-on.

In a previous interview with Shaw Local, Moen gave an example from her horticulture class where students will grow plants in the greenhouse.

In class, they will learn about the different parts of the plant and how they function together. With that knowledge, they’ll go out to the greenhouse and better understand what’s happening to the plant as it’s growing, she said.

Then they’ll move on to nutrient deficiencies and pests. In the greenhouse, students will see what is affecting the plant and determine if it is harmful to the plant’s new or old growth. They then will figure out what is needed to help the plant and watch it continue to grow, Moen said.

“So it’s direct application right away rather than like ‘Oh, if you go into this career, you would use this.’ We’re using it here and now,” Moen said.