Tuesday is Science Night at Matt Wilson Elementary

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Pictured are Ethan McBrayer (left) and Stephen Yarbrough. Both are biological science majors at the University of Georgia. They will be in charge of the plant parts and growth station Tuesday at the second annual Science Night at Matt Wilson Elementary cafeteria.

March 2, 2013

Tuesday is Science Night at Matt Wilson Elementary

Clint Thompson CNHI The Tifton Gazette Sat Mar 02, 2013, 09:07 PM EST

TIFTON — Science will be the object of area children’s affections Tuesday night.

As part of Project FOCUS, a science instructional program sponsored by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UGA FOCUS students have organized the second annual Science Night at Matt Wilson Elementary cafeteria.

According to Diana King, an associate professor on the Tifton campus, the event was designed to help fifth graders gain a more fun and educational view of science in an age when so many lose interest.

“It’s in fifth and sixth grade when students start to decide that, ‘I’m not that good in science. I’m not going to try that hard anymore.’ To get them at that age and to spark that interest and show them, here’s some really fun hands-on things you can do, that science is cool, it can keep that interest alive through some of the tough stuff,” King said.

The event will be conducted from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and will consist of nine different stations the children will participate in. Some of the featured stations include learning about birds, plant parts, DNA and a unique game testing the parents’ wits in “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?”

“I think this is a good learning experience for our [UGA] students because there is no better way to learn something yourself than have to come up with ways to teach it to others,” said Susan Reinhardt, the director of the UGA’s STARS (Students and Teachers Applying Real-Life Science) program, who started the Science Night program. “It is also a good service learning project and introduction to teaching if any of our students are headed in that direction.”

This is the second year the event will be held. In 2012, approximately 60 children attended and were taught by UGA students. The rapport that was developed between the two made the event a success.

“It was tremendous,” King said. “The fifth graders that came in had been working with the resident scientists for the FOCUS class. They knew that these are college kids that are going to be in science careers that are coming in and teaching them about sciences that they’re learning in fifth grade. The parents were pretty impressed with the way they related to the fifth graders but also the hands-on type of activities that they were bringing to the classroom.”

The program is sponsored by the UGA Tifton campus students and the STARS program.

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