NARAGAKUEN Junior High School , High School

Super Science High School

Designation
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science & Technology designated our school in March 2012 as one of our nation’s select Super Science High Schools which aim to foster high level students who will lead science technology in Japan and into the future.
In Japan and Nara
There are 178 Super Science High Schools in Japan, including 5 high schools in Nara Prefecture. In this Prefecture, among the 5 high schools, one school is national, two are public and the other two are private.
Outline of Our Projects
Our school has three projects in our SSH plan. One is a project which aims to enhance students’ scientific interests and abilities. In this program it is planned that students have various experiments in science classes, study in the field, learn from scientists outside and will be active in the science club.

Another endeavor is to foster those special individuals who will be able to lead our globalized society. In this program, we plan to have a student exchange with a private high school and college in Vietnam.

The third one is to establish a wider network with universities, research institutes and so on in order to support the scientific programs at our school.
clear.both
Vietnam Seminar (Since Dec. 17, 2011)
Our school sent five students to Vietnam from December 16 to 21 in order to encourage scientific and friendship exchanges. They visited a village in Hoa Binh, the construction site of a bridge over the Hong River, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Nguyen Sieu High School and several other places.
clear.both

At a village in Hoa Binh, students walked around the village with young local people looking for plants that are medically useful and so on. They also had a meal in a wooden building whose floor is elevated by pillars. Students also had valuable experiences trying to communicate with the local youth without the help of any language.

clear.both

At the construction site of a big suspension bridge over the Hong River, students were allowed to go up the pier, where they received explanations about the bridge. The bridge is being built by a Japanese construction company, Kajima Kensetsu.

clear.both

At Hanoi University of Science and Technology, students had lectures about water purification in Vietnam and Agent Orange which was used during the Vietnam War.

clear.both

At Nguyen Sieu High School,Chairman N guyen Trong Vinh and our Principal Morimoto signed a friendship agreement which promises everlasting friendly exchanges between the two schools.
Students had nice time talking each other, showing cultural or scientific aspects of each country (photos below), and having lunch together.

clear.both
Growing Mushrooms
Growing Mushrooms
Growing Mushrooms
clear.both

Our school is located on the hillside of Yata-kyuryo and is spread over a wide part of the hill. Junior High students have classes on the hill which is covered with broadleaf trees like Konara and so on.

Konara trees are cut down and sawed into short logs which students then use in order to grow mushrooms on them called Shiitake.

Students can learn how and when mushrooms grow on the logs and how the logs change year by year.

These classes are held for 1st grade students at the JHS every year.

Growing Rice
Growing Rice
Growing Rice
clear.both

The hills around our school were once used both as a place where neighbors could get necessary logs and other forest products, as well as for having small terraced paddy fields.

The school recovered the paddies on our grounds and began to grow rice there in the spring of 2012.

First year students from the SHS plant rice seedlings there in the spring, take care of the fields throughout the summer and then harvest them in autumn.

Students can learn how to grow rice as well as how human beings relate to the natural environment. This is an important agricultural experience for them and helps lead them to even greater insights into modern life, society and nature.

Firefly Paradise

In the hills around our school there are a few small streams that flow by the gymnasium and along the grounds finally emptying into a neighboring pond.

In summer we can enjoy many fireflies flying around the waterways where students worked hard putting down sand bags to make the water move more slowly so that firefly larvae can feed more easily on Kawanina, a kind of freshwater snail.

It is very fortunate for the 1st grade students at the SHS to visit universities, research institutes, historical sites and so on, where they have lectures from researchers and can observe laboratories and other facilities, too.
Students are stimulated by fascinating lectures and become even more interested in science than before.
clear.both

Let me present one example. When students visited the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, they had lectures about scientific dating techniques, X-ray analyses, laser beam testing and so on. They were surprised to find out that modern technology is utilized even in the field of archaeology. Students’ experience will broaden their interests and deepen their understanding about modern science and technology.

clear.both

Students also visited Kyoto University and had a lecture about the earth, earthquakes and so on.  It must be a wonderful and exciting chance for the students to have lectures at prestigious Kyoto University, where one day they may even become a student in the near future.

 

Our school requested a few universities to dispatch researchers to our school for a series of weekday seminars. In 2012, Osaka University of Education, Kyoto University and Nara Women’s University kindly accepted our requests.
We had 7 lectures after school during the year. Students who were interested in the lectures gathered and then listened intently to the current topics discussed.

Titles of the lectures were as follows:
1  From perfume to liquid crystal display television (June 21)
2  When pollen meets pistil at a rape blossom (July 25)
3  Bone density (October 24)
4  Water and the environment (November 19)
5  What is happening in the earth? Exploring technology (December 14)
6  Washing and science (January 24)
7  Life stages of stars in the winter sky (February 9)

These seminars are beneficial for the students because they don’t have to visit any universities to learn about first-rate research in each field.
Our students can learn as if they were university students.
clear.both
clear.both

clear.both
We planned three open seminars on Saturdays during the school year in 2012.
The first one was titled The Science of Music where Ms. Yamano who is a singer and Mr. Ueshiba who arranges music showed how human emotions are affected by subtle changes in sound or music.
It was a very pleasant and instructive lecture from an artistic point of view. Students could definitely broaden their understanding about music and sound.

The second lecture was scheduled in October inviting Mr. Masukawa who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. He, however, became ill at that time and the lecture was unfortunately postponed.
clear.both

The third one was titled Living with the White Stork. Mr. Nakagai, mayor of Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture, delivered a fascinating lecture to students, our graduates, parents and teachers on February 23.
The most impressive point in his speech was that the people of Toyooka are not officially taking care of the white storks like some kind of sanctuary, however they strongly desire to make the city comfortable both for its human inhabitants as well as for the white storks.
They do not use any agricultural chemicals in their rice fields so that the white storks can feed there. As a result, safe and tasty rice is harvested there and this fine reputation helps farmers to sell their superb rice. This was just one of numerous interesting examples we could hear about his city.
Students certainly learned how human beings should live in nature.