Another Fun Science Night At Hawley

By Larissa Lytwyn

Hawley Elementary School recently held its tenth annual third grade Science Night, an evening in which students and their families had the opportunity to master 28 simple and instructive science activities.

“What is particularly special about Science Night is that each year fourth grade volunteers who took part in the event last year come back and help the third graders,” explained educational assistant Debbie Barackman.

These fourth grade lab assistants, dubbed “Labbies,” all loved helping their younger peers learn activities that were as fun as they were educational.

“I didn’t have a real preconceived expectation of what the night would be like,” said Bill Yakush, who accompanied his daughter Caitlyn to the event. “I work in pharmaceuticals so I know a lot about the [principles] behind the experiments. I always encourage my children to take an active interest in science!”

Caitlyn enjoyed learning about how dark pens fused primary colors in “Butterfly Chromatography,” taught by Megan O’ Connell and Rhea Schneider.

“We soak coffee filters, cut in butterfly shapes and marked with ink in water,” Megan explained, “and we see how the all colors run through it!”

The experiment was especially fun for girls, who loved seeing their creations being carefully hung to dry before they took them home for safekeeping.

“I like helping the third graders,” said Rhea. “This is a lot of fun.”

Nearby, third graders tried to figure out the contents of various film canisters. Materials included cotton balls, rice, keys, and a multitude of other trinkets.

“It’s pretty challenging!” laughed Sue Otero, who attended with her son Chris. At one point, she chuckled, “I think I’m losing my [sense of] hearing!”

Chris grinned back at his mother. While he enjoyed the activity, he said his favorite had been making paper rockets.

Another favorite activity was the Borax Ball.

Students mixed glue and powdered Borax cleaner to form Silly Putty-like balls.

Another experiment involved seeing how many pennies a tinfoil-shaped boat could handle before it sank.

Labbie Tyler Simon ran the booth.

“One person floated 40 pennies!” he exclaimed. He noted the contrast between the 40-penny boat-maker and another student who, despite crafting a boat with deft precision, had far less success.

“The results are unpredictable,” Tyler said.

Katie McManus and Kimmy Gates said they enjoyed floating the pennies. “It was cool to see if the boat could stay up,” said Katie.

“This whole night has been fun,” Kimmy added. “I especially liked the butterfly [chromatography].”

“The experiments are drawn from Science and Children and science conferences,” said math and science specialist Debbie Cowden. “Some are old favorites, like the rocket. Other, newer ones, are added each year.”

Each booth focused on a certain science skill, including drawing conclusions, observing, hypothesizing and much more employing various scientific laws and principles.

Students tracked the skills they learned by building a paper ice cream cone, each scoop marked with a term, such as “estimating.”

“The turn out is always very good,” noted Ms Barackman. “This year has been excellent!”