Kristen Majda is a volunteer with the Discovery Center for Science and Technology in Thousand Oaks which sponsors the event. She said the idea behind Family Science Night is to create a travelling museum for kids where they can do hands-on science. Family Science Night activities focus on motion/physics, air, physical senses, animals/botany/biology, chemistry, electricity and magnetism, optical illusions, optics, and sound.
She said one of the demonstrations was using dry ice. “They get to see what happens when you put dry ice in a jar and put bubble film over the top and it expands,” she said. Students from Santa Paula and Renaissance High Schools helped the elementary children with the various experiments and describe what’s going on. She said most of the SPHS students are either Honor Students or part of the Human Services Academy.
Adult volunteers are also on hand to help set up and oversee the tables. Most of them were from the Santa Paula Optimist Club, Rotary Club or Latino Town Hall. She said both elementary and high school teachers also help out. Majda added, “Out goal is to get the students really excited about science and they might one day pursue a science or engineering career.”
Student Landor Torres was at one of the tables. His experiment involved dry ice. The students would blow bubbles in a jar, which had a can inside. The bubbles would prevent the can from sinking because of the amount of carbon dioxide created.
Sindia Cortes was showing children the hidden world you can only see through a microscope, such as spiders and other tiny animals. She said, “I love science.” Another student, Carson Gray, he’s part of the SPHS Human Services Academy. His experiment was called the magnetic cannon, demonstrating magnetism to the children.
The Discovery Center for Science and Technology is an educational nonprofit organization that provides hands-on science programs at schools and local community venues. Their web site states, “Family Science Night presents hands-on science related activities for parents and children to enjoy together. Research shows that student test scores and enjoyment of learning dramatically increases with parent participation.”
