SIDMAN —
Fourth-grade pupils at Forest Hills Elementary School were going bananas Thursday, but it was all in the name of science.
The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Mobile Ag Education Science Lab has been at the school all week and gives pupils the chance to perform an activity, such as extracting DNA from a banana, that focuses on farming, food and the environment.
Once in the lab, pupils team to solve a problem as they form a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, collect data and draw conclusions.
“This allows students to have a unique hands-on experience with science,” said Principal Jim Lashinsky.
“They go five days to the lab and each day do a different experiment.”
Other experiments include germinating seeds under different conditions, creating crayons from soybeans and testing the water capacity of different soils.
“We want our kids to understand the scientific approach and the steps involved with that and how they come to the conclusion,” Lashinsky said.
Griffin Christ said he liked spending time in the lab doing experiments, especially the taste-testing part.
“We tasted different juices to see which one tastes the best; we were looking at the sugar in the juice,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
Taryn Varner also liked the taste- test experiment and realized that although she likes chocolate, she
doesn’t like plain cocoa before the sugar is added.
“I learned that we are attracted to sodium, fats and sugar,” she said.
“We’ve been using the scientific method.”
Dawn McCall, fourth-grade science and math teacher, called the program “excellent” and said it’s aligned with what the pupils are studying in the classroom.
“The kids have a ball and ask when they are going to be able to go to the lab,” she said.
“They get to explore things they didn’t know came from Pennsylvania and what this state has to offer.”
Click here to subscribe to The Tribune-Democrat print edition.
Click here to subscribe to The Tribune-Democrat e-edition.
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
Man Who Disrupted Flight Ranted About CIA
Feds: 7-Eleven Stores Exploited Immigrants
Fla. Teen Catches Ride With Whale Shark
G8 Leaders Huddle on Syria
Raw: Obama, Putin Meet at G8
Iran's Rowhani Urges 'Path of Moderation'
Daughter: Mandela Doing 'Very Well'
Investigators Probe Origin of Colo. Wildfire
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
'Game of Thrones' Boosts N. Ireland
Raw: Prince Philip Leaves Hospital After Surgery
Zimmerman Jury Selection Turns to Media Exposure
Raw: FBI Meets Plane After Poison Threat
Family Tweets Say Kim Kardashian Gives Birth
US, EU Leaders Announce Free Trade Talks
