The first session of the Second Saturday Science program went off without a hitch on Oct. 8, as 29 third through fifth grade students from Coyote Valley Elementary School spent four hours at Taylor Observatory in Kelseyville immersed in a variety of science hands-on science activities. Students started their morning seeing a planetarium show about the cosmos and the space program. They then spent 90 minutes working with a partner to build Lego robots. Lego robots use a combination of regular Lego pieces and special gears, bushings, motion sensors and cams to create figures like an alligator which chomps down when an item is placed in its mouth.
After a nutrition break students reconvened in the classroom to work in teams of three with Magformers, building kits which use magnets. These Magformer kits contain wheels, a voice recorder, power generator, lights, and sounds. Students created a variety of vehicles and structures. During this time also volunteers from the Friends of Taylor Observatory (FOTO) set up 2 solar telescopes outside and students were able to view sunspots and solar flares.
The last activity of the day had students working in groups of four to stack plastic cups into a tower using only a rubber band and four pieces of string. Co-operation and engineering strategies were the keys to success in this activity.
This pilot program is being offered free of charge by the Lake County Office of Education and is a cooperative effort with volunteers from FOTO and the Children’s Museum of Art and Science (CMAS).
