ESU ‘science guys’ hold summer camp

Every kid knows summertime means ball games, swimming, bike riding and just plain messing around, but what happens when your teacher, who you didn’t think you’d see until August, says science can fit into the vacation calendar, too. Science? Really?

Thayer Central instructors Bryan Solomon and Clint Havel say yes, science too, really. Both teachers work with ESU 5 “science guys” Derek Niss and Dave Henning to bring all types of hands-on, experimental, fun science to fourth through sixth grade students.

The two-day camps show kids how to create force and strength using physics and mathematics. Students learn about angles, distance and force by shooting Nerf balls with cannons or launching plastic bottle rockets, using water and air as fuel. They learn about creating strength using the least amount of materials in bridge building, and how to make “gummy worms” using chemistry. According to most of the students, making them taste good seemed to be the trick. “They need a lot more sugar,” said Mary Ruth Dodes as she tossed out her finished batch of chocolate flavored worms. “I put  nine pinches in and it wasn’t enough. They taste terrible.”

Niss and Henning run the programs enlisting a host of volunteer teachers from each participating school. Solomon and Havel travel with the science guys to all eight of the participating schools in the ESU 5 district. Bruning-Davenport science instructor Aaron Peterson has joined the science squad this year filling in when needed.

For more photos of the Friday session, click on the Photos prompt at the top of this page.