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Parents set up experiments
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Emilia Aaey and Gabriella Elsay, both fourth-graders at Hilltop Elementary in Canfield, play with a mixture of corn starch and water during a science day at school. The kids were asked to predict whether the mixture, which they called “Oobeck,” would bounce more on the speaker if the frequency was turned up high or down low.
By Elise Franco
Canfield
Students at Hilltop Elementary are spending the week playing with science.
On Monday, Hilltop fourth-graders took turns with hands-on science, technology, engineering and math experiments that were designed and organized by about 50 parent volunteers over the course of several months, said Principal Cathy Mowry.
Throughout the week, the other grade levels also will participate.
Mowry said the experiments were created with the kids in mind.
“The goal was to have kids be adventurers, discoverers and learners all while having fun,” she said. “As we’re walking around listening to the kids, it seems a success.”
Staci Wills, a parent and STEM organizer, said the intent was to give the kids the type of hands-on experience they may not get visiting a museum.
“Think a mix of science center, children’s museum, gross and sticky stuff and hands-on,” she said.
The stations differ for each grade level, Wills said.
The fourth-graders played with “Oobleck,” a cornstarch and water mixture, and watched as it bounced around in solid form on a speaker. They also learned to use microscopes, built walls and tried to knock them over using a catapult, and built paper airplanes and then tracked their distances.
Kailey Fishel, Libby Finsen and Kacey Whistler, all 10, learned about advances in technology by playing video games. They started with Pong, a two-dimensional tennis game created in 1972, and ended with an XBox 360 game in which the person playing is actually the controller.
Kacey said she was amazed by the difference in technology even though she’s seen old games before.
“There’s a really big difference,” she said. “The new ones are definitely better because they have more fun things to do.”
Abigail Maxin, 10, said she enjoyed the “Oobleck” station.
“You got to see how it vibrated when you turned the speaker on,” she said. “When you turned it to high [frequency] it moved a little, but when you put it on low it was really bouncing around.”
Wills and Mowry agreed that the STEM week is something they plan to incorporate into every school year from here forward, and Superintendent Dante Zambrini said it’s a good indication of how involved parents are with the school.
“Unlike taking a child to a museum, here, the parents set up the experiments,” he said. “They’re engaged with the children during the experiments, and they’re all really having a good time.”