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Daily Local News – July 20, 2003
Students Dabble in Science at Summer Program
By Tracy Behringer
Hundreds of elementary school children across Chester County participated in a series of shocking science experiments this summer.
Courtesy of GlaxoSmithKline's annual Science in the Summer program, the youngsters took part in fun, hands-on lessons in electricity and magnetism at 18 different local public libraries. At the Paoli Library earlier this month, 10-year old Henry Szupica of Malvern attended the free, four-day session. In one of the experiments, he and other students learned how static electricity could pass from a hand-cranked electrostatic generator and move through individuals holding hands in a circle.
"I felt a little (electric static) shock. It went through my brother before it got to me, then to everyone else," Henry said with a grin.
Tony DeSipio, an eighth-grade science teacher at Octorara Middle School in Atglen, taught the "hair-raising" physical science and electricity lesson. It is his eighth year teaching for the Science in the Summer program.
"You have the ability to make electrons move," DiSipio told the young students as he rubbed a latex balloon across his shirt. Then waving the static-charged object over small bits of paper and grains of puffed rice that danced in the air and rose to the balloon's surface, the teacher explained about static electricity. Just to make sure the youngsters weren't lulled into believing that static electricity was a weak power source, however, DiSipio made sure to remind them that static can pack a punch.
"Think thunderstorms. Lightning is pretty powerful stuff. But you still couldn't use it to power your Nintendo. The current isn't constant," he explained.
The Science in the Summer program was developed in 1986 to teach children basic scientific concepts, demonstrate how science is directly related to everyday life and get children excited about studying the subject. Each session is comprised of four 45-minute classes given over the course of a week and runs from late June through early August. The classes fill up fast and are usually on a first-come, first-served basis, or through a lottery. The students are taught by certified teachers to groups of 15 students in two age groups: those entering second and third grades and those entering fourth through sixth grade.
"We have a rotation of six different subject areas and this is the first time this particular topic has been offered in Chester County," explained Shelly McLaughlin, who helped to coordinate the program. Other areas of study include oceanography, bioscience, chemistry, paleontology and simple machines.
Since it began being offered in Chester County, as well as Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, more than 60,000 children have participated in the program. More than 6,000 were expected to enroll this summer, with about 900 in Chester County, according to Jeanne Clancy Watkins, head of the youth services department at the Chester County Library in Exton.
As part of the program, GlaxoSmithKline provides a yearly grant to each participating county to purchase additional science books. The teachers in the program then encourage the students to check out the books to expand the knowledge they gained from the course.
At the program held at Chester County Library in Exton, Tim O'Leary, an eighth-grade science teacher from Avon Grove Middle School, helped youngsters create floating compasses using magnets and then had them power toy race cars with repelling magnets. Six-year-old Christoph Grosse from Downingtown named his winning race car "Sonic."
"Another teacher once taught me a trick to control the car with the magnet and that's how I won," Christoph admitted. "See, you hold the magnet close," he said, demonstrating how he made his car roll to win his race.
Other race cars—"Daisy", controlled by 8-year-old Lauren Oeste of Downingtown, "Bolty," controlled by 7-year-old Daniel Hughes of West Chester and "Fluffy Fang," controlled by 6-year-old Chip Faust of Downington—performed well too.
"This is fun," Lauren said, showing the speed of her car. "We also learned how to magnetize things by rubbing a magnet on them."
"All of the activities are hands-on and it's just fascinating to see the excitement in all of the kids. The teachers are just great. They're so enthusiastic and are able to cover so much information in the time they have," said McLaughlin.
Twin brothers Scott and David Blyton of Malvern agreed they had learned a lot of science in the first three days of their session at the Paoli location.
"Science is my favorite subject in school, but here we get to do more experiments," David said.
"This is fun because we actually get to touch the stuff," said Scott.
DiSipio said the material in the program is taught according to the children's level so they can grasp the subject matter. He added that he has seen a big turnout of children since he began teaching in the program.
"It's new to most of the kids especially at the elementary school level, and they get a kick out of doing all of the experiments," he said.
And both Janie Whelan, 9, of Paoli and Mariah Donovan, 11, who was visiting her grandmother in Paoli, would challenge anyone who suggests that the science programs are more for boys than for girls.
"Boys sometimes say that girls aren't scientists, but that's not right; girls love to do science,” Janie said.
"Yeah, like today was fun lighting the (light bulb with static electricity). I've learned a lot. And I'll remember it too," said Mariah.
For more information about the Science in the Summer Programs for next summer, log onto www.scienceinthesummer.com, or ask a local librarian.
This article originally appeared in and is reprinted with permission from the (Chester County, Pa.) Daily Local News.
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