Samantha Saville
The Paw Print
Saturday, May 1 was a free day at Science Saturdays. The kids and parents got to explore all of the fun gadgets they have seen and learned about all year. Some gadgets were missing because Dr. Randy Emmons treats this experience like a library. He knows how short kids’ attention spans are so if he allows the kids to borrow the gadgets and effectively arouses their interest, they might have a future in science.
Dr. Randy Emmons had recently given a few children kits to build robots. Since this week was more of an ‘explore at your own pace’ week, those children got to play with and show off what they had built. It was exciting to see the excitement on their faces when their robot ran. People were impressed by what they accomplished with science.
As the morning continued, some of the children had a robot race. They set up a course and made it into a big event. They were so happy to see their robots in action. Other children participated in their own race. Some raced cars, helicopters, and even marbles. There was a maze set up by the volunteers for the kids to race the cars through.
Past Science Saturday subjects were also set up for the kids to experience on a higher level. One young girl worked on building her own robotics program. There was a new toy this week. Emmons brought a little microscope attached to a computer so the image was magnified. The kids all got to go explore outside to find things to look at. They were all so excited to see what the world around them was made of.
Newer children to the program experimented with the spinning stool. Children who know the tricks of this toy shared their insight with the others to create a fun student-teaching-student environment. The kids all loved teaching and interacting with the other kids.
This was the final Science Saturday for this year. The Science Saturday program will resume on Saturday, September 11.
What’s Been Said…