“How do you remember all of this information?” fifth-grade student Carla Roby asked Kempsville High School senior Jacob Matherly after seeing his “Swirling Milk” chemistry demonstration, an experiment designed to show the effects of a surfactant on the fat in milk.
“First, you learn facts at the subatomic level and then you build from there,” he eagerly responded as the surrounding audience of fourth- and fifth-grade students marveled with “oooohs” and “ahhs.”
“I started learning in middle school science and then learned more as I took chemistry and science classes throughout high school,” Matherly continued.
That was one of scores of questions elementary students from Kempsville and Providence elementary schools asked their high school counterparts as they participated in the annual “Chemistry Field Day” hosted by Kempsville High School’s Chemistry Club Jan. 20 and 21.
“It’s an opportunity for our high school Chemistry Club to expose younger students to the fun of science,” said AP chemistry teacher and club sponsor Maureen Morse. “The high school students love it. They spend hours after school preparing the various stations and their descriptions of experiments.”
As elementary students rotated through stations of experiments ranging from “Dry Ice Bubbles” to “Oobleck” to “Gold & Silver Pennies” they asked a flurry of questions which the high school students happily answered with easy-to-understand, science-based responses.
After the hour-plus, fun-filled session – and seeing the grand finale of a gummy bear combustion demonstration – Morse had a question of her own for the elementary students.
“How many of you are interested in science?”
The chorus of students overwhelmingly responded, “Me!”
Love it!! Students love learning from their older “brothers and sisters”- Science is so exciting. Pembroke Elementary would love to be adopted-any HS takers???
This was an awesome invitation for our Providence Elementary School students to attend “high school” and complete chemistry experiments! I know our son (a 4th grader) really enjoyed it! He had to tell us all about what he had observed, learned, and embraced! We would like to see more of this differentiation and collaboration among our students of elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Some of our students are ready for this type of engagement. Thank you to the students of the KHS chemistry club and their teachers for setting this opportunity in motion. Kudos!!