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Main Line Life
A matter of course: Science in the Summer in its 18th season at local libraries.
By Cheryl Allison
Sifting through a tray of coarse gray sand at the Tredyffrin Public Library, second-grader Parvitra Siva had found real buried treasure: a tiny, pointed shell hardly bigger than the head of a pin. Its spirals still perfectly defined, it was a fossilized gastropod: in other words, a very old snail shell.
Using a paper cup, a pencil and two doughnut-shaped magnets, Jared Ross, 9, at Bala Cynwyd Library, was discovering the principle behind one of today's fastest forms of land transportation: the magnetic levitation train.
Those are the kinds of surprises kids can count on finding year after year at Science in the Summer.
The free, one-week summer camps were back for their 18th season this month at area libraries. Sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and taught by certified teachers from area school districts, they're meant to be a fun, hands-on introduction to different scientific disciplines, from paleontology and oceanography, to chemistry and physical science.
Chester County libraries including Tredyffrin hosted classes in paleontology this year. In the sessions, students learned how many different species of dinosaurs scientists believe once walked the Earth (350) and how they got their names (based on where their fossil remains were found, what they looked like, or who found them).
Instructors like Tim O'Leary, an eighth-grade science teacher at Avon Grove Middle School during the regular year, use some imaginative ways to teach their lessons.
To get the real picture on how big a T. Rex was, Valley Forge Middle School student David Gleichman explained, the class went outside with a ball of twine to measure out 45 feet. Another day, teaching them the delicate method paleontologists use to uncover fossils, O'Leary had them "excavate a cookie for its chocolate chips."
The pay-off activity on the last day of class last Thursday was an honest-to-goodness fossil "dig." O'Leary handed out trays of matrix ore from Florida, "guaranteed" to contain several different types of fossil material. Sure enough, the student scientists were soon digging out sharp black shark's teeth, teeth from rays that looked like tiny combs, white pieces of coral, black bits of fossilized bone, flat stones with the imprint of ancient leaves and chunks of petrified wood.
As Parvitra's discovery proved, "Some of the most important things are found by digging down and sorting through the small stuff," O'Leary encouraged. Trying to steer a racecar powered by magnets around a construction-paper track, students in Joan Manson's physical science class at Bala Cynwyd Library on Tuesday were also finding out it took persistence.
They had already learned about how opposite poles of magnets attract and two poles of the same kind repel. Now they were finding out the complications of using different shapes and strengths of magnets, and how to maneuver the magnets' force fields without "flipping out" their cars.
Manson showed them a magnetic levitation device. A torpedo-shaped object with blinking red lights seemed to be spinning in mid-air above a base.
Daniel Kasmer, a third-grader, had figured out magnets in the base and the object that were repelling each other, causing the object to hover. Manson explained that's the technology behind fast mag-lev trains used in Japan and Europe, although the magnets, of course, are much more powerful.
Later in the week, the class will turn into a real hair-raising experience, when Manson brings in a Van de Graf generator and moves on to electricity.
Science in the Summer creator, GlaxoSmithCline scientist Virginia Cunningham, developed it as a way to introduce more girls and minority students to science and get them thinking about science careers, explained Manson, a fifth-grade teacher at Philadelphia's Fox Chase Elementary. Kids and teachers alike enjoy it because, "First of all, it's fun. There's no pressure of grades or report cards," she said. O'Leary, at Tredyffrin, agreed. "Kids love it because it's all hands-on."
"The whole focus in science is you don't always have to get the right answer," Manson added. "It's about trying things, creating things, making discoveries."
Libraries in Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties will be offering new Science in the Summer programs next summer. Classes are so popular that many libraries have waiting lists. Some hold lotteries to fill spaces. For information about their policies, check with your local library.
Reprinted with permission from the Main Line Life.
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