On March 1, the Shaw School of Science had its annual Kids College, where they welcomed around 200 children on campus to experience a day of all things science. The event was hosted by Asbury’s Sigma Zeta Honors Society in the Collaborative Learning Center (CLC), and it is their biggest event of the year.
The Saturday event consisted of two sessions: one in the morning from 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and one in the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Lunch was provided in between the groups. The 200 in attendance were divided up between the sessions.
Children from ages K-8th grade were able to experience science hands-on. There were experiments, demonstrations and opportunities to visit the plant and animal labs.
The kids were divided into groups by age. The younger groups participated in a basic science camp, while the older aged groups rotated through stations and rooms with activities and experiments focusing on chemistry, biology, math and physics. In the chemistry room, kids were able to construct a lava lamp. In biology, they were able to look close up at animals and learn how to use a microscope. In the physics and math room, kids created gliders using styrofoam.
Kids College is mostly student-run. All Asbury students, regardless of their major, had the opportunity to volunteer to help with the day’s various events.
Senior biology major Natalie Hill, who was a volunteer, said, “I thought this year’s Kids College ran very smoothly and we had so many volunteers to help out. It was so fun also seeing kids who attended Kids College last year come back again. I got to help out this year as a line leader. This meant I helped take kids from station to station. It was fun to experience all the experiments with the kids as well.”
The heart of Kids College is to get children excited about science, to show them science can be fun and to generate an early interest in STEM. This event offers inspiration, practical science experience as well as the excitement of being on a college campus.
“I love having this opportunity to view science with a child-like wonder again. I think Kids College offers children a good chance to see how fun science can be and how they can continue to do it the rest of their lives,” said Hill.
Kids College takes place each spring semester. For more information on this event, visit (https://www.asbury.edu/schools/shaw-school-of-sciences/department-science-and-health/kids-college/).
Photo courtesy of Emma Farrell.
