Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 16, 1994 TAG: 9405170022
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By WENDI GIBSON RICHERT STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
You bet. In fact, second-grader Cory Freeman of Roanoke says he thinks science is so much fun, ``it's kind of like recess.''
Why, the subject's even got its own Saturday morning TV show - ``Beakman's World'' - which airs around the same time as ``Garfield and Friends'' and ``Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.''
Kids all over the country tune in to see Beakman and pals discover the answers to their wildest questions - questions that most every kid has asked at some point. And answers that most every kid can find through an experiment of their own - however offbeat, wacky or messy it is.
Proof that science most certainly can be fun. And, it should be.
After all, science is not limited to that 30 minutes you spend on it each day at school.
``It's all around you,'' says Cory's classmate, Markeia Young. It's in the air, your top-of-the-line sneakers and Sega Genesis games, even that grandfather clock ticking away in the next room. Science, after all, grew the forests, built your home, painted your bike and printed the paper you're reading now.
Let's face it, you cannot escape science. So you may as well make the best of it. Fortunately, that's not only easy, it should come naturally for most.
You don't have to be an Einstein to enjoy learning about science. You just need to be curious. Einstein himself once said he wasn't all that intelligent, just extremely inquisitive. (That means he asked a lot of questions!)
Like Cory and Markeia, the rest of the kids in Lisa Gelburd's second-grade class at Fairview World of Plants and Animals Elementary Magnet School know the value of asking questions and finding out the answers. When science time rolls around, they don't automatically open their textbooks and answer the questions at the end of the chapter. They assist each other in experiments and share their thoughts to discover the answers to their own questions.
And, they say they remember those answers better than if they had simply read them in their books.
For example, when the annular eclipse was visible last Tuesday, Gelburd's class not only learned how eclipses are formed, but also saw one with their special glasses and pinhole cards around 12:45 p.m. They also measured the outside temperature before and after the eclipse to see how it affected the air around their school.
When the eclipse was over, the lesson on the sun didn't end. The class then learned how sundials work, and they made one for themselves.
Asked what Gelburd's students like best about science, most all of the 25 pupils said the projects they do make it tops for them. Favorites include writing secret messages with lemon juice, dissecting a chicken leg, heart, liver and gizzard, and comparing those organs to those of a pig. They also got a kick out of seeing their teacher spin around carrying a bucketful of water - which didn't spill out even as she lifted the bucket up to shoulder-height while twirling around and around.
Making science fun in class has made these kids want to make it fun at home, too. ``I think about science all the time,'' says La'Tishia Smith. ``Like when you turn old things into new things, like recycling.''
Many of these kids go home and experiment on their own. Jeanette Bowman and her mom placed old crayons in a pot of boiling water, then put a piece of paper over the pot. ``All the colors went up to the paper,'' she says.
There's plenty more stuff this class would like to find out about, such as what makes the flowers grow or how many germs there are on just one finger. Wondering about these things is half the process of enjoying science. They know the real fun comes in discovering the answers.
by CNB