Science, stories, fun, and colors converged recently in a science education program for children at the Morrisville Library.
The Science Heroes event, themed The Adventure of the Missing Color, fascinated about forty children with science experiments based around real-life stories on the morning of July 17 at the Morrisville Library.
The Science Heroes instructor, Emma Howard, commenced the program with a lesson about air pressure by blowing air into a long plastic bag.
“Fast moving air creates low air pressure, so when I blow air into my bag, I'm creating an area of low pressure inside of the bag,” Howard said. “But, the thing about air pressure is, it always wants to be equal, so the high pressure air on the outside of the bag is going to get pulled to the inside.”
Prefaced by an elaborate story about a group of people catching their friend falling from a tree with a picnic blanket, Howard explained the general ideas of gravity and surface area. As a demonstration, Howard dropped a wooden heart flat-ways onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and compared it to when she dropped it on its edge.
“[I dropped] the block on this normally small area right here so the force of the block [was] concentrated on this small area,” Howard said. “When the force of the block is concentrated on a small area, the plastic wrap breaks.”
Howard then explained wind as an energy source using a hairdryer and a ping pong ball as props.
“When I turn on my hairdryer, it’s going to make a column of fast moving air, and that air should keep the ping pong ball up. But the pressure on the sides and the top of the ball should keep it from falling back down,” Howard said.
The concluding experiment featured a chemical reaction using soap and hydrogen peroxide. Howard explained that given the chemical formula for hydrogen peroxide is H2O2, the experiment would release the extra oxygen atom by adding a catalyst, which was yeast in this case.
“When I pour the yeast into our hydrogen peroxide, it's going to release that extra oxygen. That oxygen is going to go into our soap, and we'll get lots and lots of bubbles,” Howard said.
Ending by reiterating the program’s theme, Howard explained how color is integrated with science, stating that ophthalmologists use science to help colorblind people, pyrotechnicians use science to color fireworks, and artists use science when mixing paints together to create more specific colors.
“This summer, we are shouting out science heroes who work with colors,” Howard said. “Maybe someday, you guys can figure out a way to use science to make your communities a little bit better, and then you'll be a science hero too.”
The event was sponsored by the Michael F. Sherlock Foundation, which sponsors musical and community events, such as concerts in Williamson Park, as a memorial to Morrisville resident Mike Sherlock who passed away from lung cancer in 2002.
“We're not only supporting concerts in the park, but also this science summer program which fits within the realm of giving back to the community,” said Nancy Sherlock, Mike Sherlock’s wife.
Alexandra Napoleon, a library clerk at the Morrisville Library who helped arrange volunteers for the event, said teaching science to children is crucial in giving them a foundation for thinking critically.
“We want to teach them to question, and we want to teach them to think– not just chew up information and spit it out again, but to be learners, develop their brains, and make them contributing members of society,” Napoleon said.
Most children are already learning about science in school, but Napoleon said she believes an interactive outside-the-classroom environment aids with learning.
“It's not always the formal classroom environment that so many people think it is. Reading readiness is not being able to just say your letters; it's also teaching reading through movement,” Napoleon said. “It's not just academics that are important; it’s engagement, and if you don't realize you're learning and you learn anyway, that's really a great way to do it.”
Napoleon added that in an age where we’re bombarded with all kinds of information, scientific thinking is integral in picking apart what information is both important and true.
“Science is a theory. As we learn more, we change things because we learn more, and then we adjust our thinking,” Napoleon said. “Learning about science and how the physical world works really leads to lifelong questioning and helps people be critical thinkers, which I think is really important in a time like this, where it’s difficult to tell whether something is true or false.”
Although the stereotypical function of a library is to provide books for local communities, Napoleon said she believes libraries now dually function as “new community centers” open to everyone equally.
“Libraries are not just for taking out books or making copies or using the computers. It's also one of the few places that you can go to without having to spend money these days,” Napoleon said.
Bucks County Free Libraries all participate in some form of programming, offering events such as movie screenings, book clubs, yoga, and educational programming for both adults and children. Napoleon added that summer programming for children is important because there can be a learning loss for students on summer break, and to ease the burden on parents emotionally and fiscally.
“With the economy being the way it is, being able to provide free programs and free places for kids to go really helps out when you're just trying to go to the grocery store and not spend every penny you have, or pay your electric bill,” Napoleon said.
Kimberly Kane, a summer camp counselor at the YMCA Growing Up Wild Summer Camp in Morrisville, brought her preschooler campers to the science heroes event.
“It's important to show them experiments, and simple experiments they can do at home. [It showed them that] science is fun,” Kane said.
Elijah Lieblich, a rising 2nd-grader, said he likes the massive explosions involved in science experiments along with the hypothesizing involved with science in general.
“You get to try and you learn how to do [science] and learn [from your] mistakes,” Lieblich said.
By the end of the hour, the colorful storytelling and valuable science lessons transformed children into proper science heroes.
