Nearly 100 local children take part in WVSOM science carnival
The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine’s Pediatrics Club and Student Osteopathic Medical Association hosted its first-ever Kids Science Carnival on Feb. 27, with nearly 100 children from the area participating.
The free event, offered to elementary and middle school-aged students, provided local youth with a variety of hands-on science experiments such as creating rainbow prisms and playing a water xylophone. Activity stations included fingerprint dusting, constellation creation and a human anatomy puzzle.
Pediatrics Club Historian Elizabeth Mazeka said the science carnival was an opportunity to give children a chance to learn about “fun” aspects of science in an environment that’s not a typical classroom.
Professor Science, from the PBS children’s television show Abracadabra, joined the students to share some entertaining science experiments.
“The first Kids Science Carnival has been an incredible success,” said Jim Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s vice president of administrative and external relations and Professor Science. “The WVSOM students have done an excellent job in terms of organizing and implementing an outstanding science carnival. This is a great idea and we’ve got to keep doing it.”
Kids dipped their hands into simulated blood to learn about the functions of different blood cells. Red water beads represented red blood cells, which carry oxygen through the body. Ping pong balls represented white blood cells, which are the “superheroes” of the blood that eat and digest germs. Foam squares represented platelets, which clump together to form clots when a person gets cut. (Photo courtesy of Pat Bauserman, WVSOM)Kids were encouraged to play a song on jars filled with varying amounts of water, similar to a xylophone. Volunteers explained that different amounts of water produced different sounds because of changes in how sound travels through the water. (Photo courtesy of Pat Bauserman, WVSOM)WVSOM volunteers helped kids fill a cup with soil, then plant and water seeds to take home. The exhibit table taught kids that plants need water and sunlight to grow. (Photo courtesy of Pat Bauserman, WVSOM)WVSOM volunteers helped kids put together a human anatomy puzzle in order to learn about different internal organs, where they are located in the body and what they do. (Photo courtesy of Pat Bauserman, WVSOM)Kids were encouraged to dip their fingers in ice water to see how cold the water was at the arctic animals exhibit table. After, put on gloves and coated their fingers in fat to feel how much warmer the water seemed. This simulated how arctic animals like polar bears can stay warm in cold environments (they have a fat layer called blubber to insulate them). (Photo courtesy of Pat Bauserman, WVSOM)
