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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children at the Mad Science Sprout Club program did an experiment with making marshmallows sink and float in water at Fellows Riverside Gardens on Jan. 19.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Carter smashed a marshmallow to try to get it to sink during the Mad Science Sprout Club program on Jan. 19 at Fellows Riverside Gardens.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Guests at the Mad Science Sprout Club watched as the bubbles come out of the water bottle during an experiment at Fellows Riverside Gardens on Jan. 19.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children at the Mad Science Sprout Club played with slime at Fellows Riverside Gardens on Jan. 19.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Gabby watched as her water bottle overflowed with bubbles during a Mad Science experiment on Jan. 19 at Fellows Riverside Gardens.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Children became young scientists practicing experiments during the Mad Science Sprout Club at Fellows Riverside Gardens on Jan. 19.
Lynn Zocolo, horticulture director, was the lead scientist who demonstrated the experiments to the children. Zocolo started the afternoon with a picture of plant roots and explained how the roots are used to absorb water for the plants. This was put into a visualization by using water, celery, food coloring and paper towels. In one cup there was a piece of celery in colored water which allowed the children to see the water move through the celery stalk. The second way of showing walking water was sticking a napkin in a cup of yellow water, a napkin in a cup of blue water and placing both napkins in an empty cup. The water would absorb into the napkins and transfer into the empty cup.
Many of the experiments performed were hands-on allowing the children to see how things worked. Children had the opportunity to microwave soap and watch it turn into a cloud-like shape. The air bubbles in the soap expanded, but the soap was still solid and could be used as a normal body soap.
One of the favorite experiments was referred to as the exploding toothpaste experiment. The children mixed together yeast, water, peroxide and food coloring. When all of the ingredients were mixed together in a water bottle, the mixture would start to foam and come out of the bottle. The children’s faces lit up when they saw the colorful bubbles flowing out.
A final experiment focused on the ability to differentiate the taste of an apple from a potato without using their sense of smell. The apples and potatoes were peeled and sliced so the children couldn’t tell which was which. Some children said they could tell what one was the potato versus the apple with their noses plugged, but others could not.
When the program was over, the children enjoyed a snack before they went home. Zocolo made edible slime for the children to take home as well.
Zocolo said she put in a lot of hard work and preparation for this program, but it was all worth it to see the looks on the children’s faces when they take part in the experiments.
The next Sprout Club will be on Feb. 16 and the children will learn about air plants.