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CHC students become body mechanics
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Fourth-grade students at C.H. Campbell Elementary School learned how to build a nutritious meal at the Build a Meal learning station during the COSI on Wheels visit June 3..
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.C.H. Campbell Elementary School fourth-graders tried their hand at Mr. Bones, a giant floor puzzle of a skeleton..
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.With the help of a parent volunteer, students at C.H. Campbell Elementary School used a pulse meter to figure out their pulse number at the What’s Your Number learning station during the COSI on Wheels visit June 3.
By ABBY SLANKER
Students at C.H. Campbell Elementary School started the school day off with a bang June 3 with a little help from Chris Husmann, outreach educator with COSI on Wheels.
Hussman, with the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, led an assembly for the students which focused on The Incredible Human Machine. Hussman, COSI’s “body mechanic,” showed the students how their bodies are similar to complex machines, such as engines, and asked them to help him fix the “broken” engine he brought with him.
The students learned about the different systems in their bodies and how they related to an engine. For example, a person’s brain is comparable to the computer in an engine and the fuel an engine needs to run is comparable to the nutritional food a body needs to function.
The students also learned about eating a variety of foods, such as colorful fruit and vegetables, nutrient-rich dairy foods, whole grains and lean meats and beans can provide their bodies with the necessary nutrients they need to stay healthy and fit.
The assembly ended after the students helped Hussman, the “body mechanic,” repair the COSI engine, and he fired it off with a bang.
“We hold the assembly in the morning for the students to get them excited about The Incredible Human Machine and then they come back throughout the day to try out our hands-on learning stations,” Hussman said.
Hussman set up several learning stations around the gym, including Take a Closer Look, at which students could get a microscopic view of pizza, chips or even their skin; Mr. Bones, at which the students could put together a giant puzzle of a skeleton on the floor; Spot the Starch, at which students could conduct an experiment to determine which sample foods contained starch and which did not; When Health Gets Hurt, which encouraged students to make good decisions about behaviors that can be detrimental to their long-term well being, Let’s Dance, a video game created by COSI which showed the students how technology can help them be active even when the weather is bad; and Build a Meal, at which students learned about nutrition and building a healthy meal.
Several C.H. Campbell parent volunteers manned the hands-on learning stations and were trained by Hussman to help the students.
“This program’s entire success depends on the parent volunteers that help me out. The volunteers here at C.H. Campbell have been great and I would like to thank them for their help,” Hussman said.
At the end of their time at the learning stations, the students received a Certificate of Completion, which included a coupon for free admission to COSI in Columbus.