Perry Elementary fourth graders became scientists for the day and created their own Matter Monsters during a science program presented by Science Explorers Inc. on Feb. 19.
Putting on lab coats and safety goggles, each student received their own science name, such as Life Cycle Logan Rollman.
“There were a lot of explosions,” said Rollman, smiling. “The Matter Monsters, I thought they were just going to change colors but they actually started foaming up.”
He learned that matter is in everything in the world, that there is a liquid, gas or solid.
Fourth grader Hypothesis Hailie Edwards also really liked the experiments. “You could mix different things to make a different temperature,” said Edwards.
Her favorite part was when the experiments exploded.
“It got out of control and it was falling over and started getting blown up. It was really cool,” said Edwards, referring to the Matter Monsters science experiment.
The students were really surprised by the colorful and expansive results of the Matter Monster experiment, which foamed up out of the cup and then hardened. They added decorations to create the final touches on their monsters. They cheered when told they could take their monsters home.
“We come in to get them excited about science,” said Solar Sarah Troy of Science Explorers, The S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation Program Director. “Hopefully through this fun exciting experiment, the names that they get that have different science words on it, they go to the library and get more books about science and ultimately just have more of a love for science, want to explore more about different kinds of science.”
Troy said Science Explorers present the program to fourth graders because they want to help with learning the science buzz words that they know are on the state testing.
“Hopefully through doing the experiment and having motions to go with all of those key words they can remember it for the state test then,” said Troy.
She said the program is funded by a donation from UGI to The S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation.
“We have so much fun with the kids because it’s them learning through doing,” said Troy. “We’re not demonstrating for them and saying watch us. We’re not spitting out information to them. We’re having them learning through doing and actually going through the experiment and going through the scientific method.”
Radioactive Rachel Lally of Science Explorers, Inc. led the young scientists through the hands-on science experiments. She asked the students to use their senses to make scientific observations, use their knowledge to create an educated hypothesis and then come to conclusions based on their scientific experiments.
In one experiment, students learned what happens when they combine a solid and a liquid, baking soda and vinegar, which resulted in an endothermic reaction, or cold. For the Matter Monsters experiment, they combined two liquids and learned about the exothermic reaction, or hot.
Fourth grade teacher Lisa Rosenberger loved that the students were doing hands-on activities.
“They seem to really enjoy it,” she said.
Rosenberger said the students had already learned about matter in class. She hopes the experiments serve as a nice review for them and helps them remember the science lessons.
The S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation is a science education non-profit organization in Mohnton.
According to a S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation release, “These innovative, hands-on programs excite students, bring the world of science alive and get them thinking about careers in S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math). Boosting interest and knowledge in the area of science is critical in today’s world, and there is no more fun way to do it than to directly engage students in hands-on activities. Bringing science learning to all students, regardless of socio-economic status, is the mission of The S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation and we are thrilled to be coming to Perry Elementary.”
For more information about The S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation, visit www.sparksfoundation.org.