SIMI VALLEY : Students Vie in Math, Science Events

Nearly 280 elementary students launched paper airplanes, blew soap bubbles and cheered racing snails at Royal High School in Simi Valley on Thursday--all in the name of science.

Teams of third- through sixth- grade students participated in the Simi Valley Unified School District’s Math-Science Olympiad, an academic tournament to promote the creative side of science and mathematics.

“It gives students a different view of what mathematicians and scientists do--not just the vocabulary and rules,” said Ellen Lee, the district’s curriculum coordinator. “They’re getting a hands-on opportunity to problem solve.”

Each of the district’s elementary schools participated in seven of 16 events, chosen at random. The events were balanced so that the students used a variety of mathematical applications, scientific concepts and their imaginations, Lee said.

Rather than competition, she said, the emphasis was on learning,

teamwork and having fun.

A group of Madera Elementary students surrounded a table, yelling at the top of their lungs, urging a maverick snail toward the finish line. The snail had six minutes to crawl about a foot from the center to the edge of the table. It made it with three seconds to spare.

“It was like a horse, running all out at the end,” said smiling fifth-grader Derek Johannsen, holding up the winning snail.

Madera parent and snail coach Merle Apperson stood behind the students, watching them congratulate each other.

“Part of science is learning about how live animals work,” she said, handing out achievement certificates to the students.

Justin Elementary sixth-grader Jessie McLouth exhaled into the paper sail of her team’s puffmobile--a rolling contraption made of wooden beads, pins, straws and paper.

“It rolled a little crooked at first,” Jessie said after the race. “But it made it. It’s a work of art.”