Fanning Flames of Inquiring Minds : Brea students get science lessons to go with 47 self-contained experiments that can be done at home.

The kids at Fanning Elementary School love science. Just ask Nadene Davis. It is her job to keep track of the school’s 47 science kits and make sure that all 570 pupils get a chance to take one home.

“Right now all the kits have been checked out,” says Davis, a school librarian. “We have to limit how many go out to each class. We had one left today, and five or six kids all wanted it.”

The kits, each containing a different science experiment, are available in the Fanning library through a program called Shoebox Science. Each “shoe box”--actually a sturdy plastic kit--is checked out like a library book. Instructions and materials for completing each experiment are in the boxes. Experiments range from learning about evaporation and condensation to making recycled paper.

“All the kids in my class would take one home every week if we had enough boxes,” says third-grade teacher Majorie Friesen. “It gets them involved with science hands-on. They can do an experiment that relates to what we are studying in class, or they can do experiments about something we are not studying. It’s their choice.”

Fifth-grader Zack Kennan, 10, recently chose the kit that taught him how to make his own recycled paper. “It was pretty easy, but messy,” he says. “I did it over the weekend, and it took about a day because you had to wait for the paper to dry.”

Zack sister, Erin, 8, chose the condensation experiment and watched what happened when she filled a bottle with hot water, another with cold water, then dropped in ice cubes.

Before children can check out the science experiments, they must have permission from their parents, and parents are encouraged to help, according to Tim Harvey, principal at Fanning School.

“Each child signs an agreement that they’ll take it home, do the experiment and bring it back,” says Harvey, who introduced the program into his school four years ago. “The boxes have to be replaced periodically and cleaned, but the kits hold up pretty well.”

Each kit is color-coded indicating the level of difficulty, from beginners to advanced, says Harvey, who patterned the program after one in Tustin sponsored by the Tustin American Assn. of University Women.

“The ones I saw actually were in shoe boxes,” he says. “We made the change of putting ours in plastic containers. And our experiments range from simple ones that use kitchen utensils to sophisticated ones using batteries.”

Money to fund the program at Fanning came from the Parent Teacher Organization and the School Improvement Program, Harvey says.

“It is a very inexpensive program to run once you get the materials and boxes,” he says. “Each year we set aside some money to buy new materials and (use) some of the materials we already have on campus. It is a reasonably easy program to implement, and you don’t need 40 or 50 boxes to start. You can begin small.”

The program is popular with children and parents, Harvey says. “The kids enjoy it. Some children will go through all the experiments, and others will be very selective.

“The parents’ feedback has been favorable as well,” he says. “All parents have tried to do some kind of Mr. Wizard activities with their children, and sometimes it’s hard to find all the materials necessary to do the experiments. With the boxes, that isn’t a problem.”

Although each box contains most of the materials needed for the experiment, parents do have to supply certain items. For example, an experiment in sound requires that the pupil provide two bowls, sand, pebbles, a drinking glass, hammer and nails, two soup cans, scissors and tape. Another experiment showing how a plant draws water from the ground requires a stalk of celery and some red food dye.

“Most items are common household things,” Davis says. “But sometimes parents have to purchase something--like starch or mothballs.”

Davis says the most popular experiment among the children is the one that teaches how to make rock candy. “Everybody wants to do that one,” she says. “But they love them all. It’s just the idea of doing an experiment that they enjoy.”

Cortney Olender, 10, already has done five science experiments and is looking forward to doing more--even though she admits that science is not her favorite subject. “If it looks good, I’ll check it out,” she says. “I just did the fingerprinting one. It was pretty fun.”

Third-grader Kyle Wink, 8, just completed the plant experiment with the celery stalk. “Mine was pretty simple, but some are fairly hard to do,” he says. Some of the more advanced kits include experiments in jet propulsion, air pressure, static electricity and flotation. Other experiments teach children how to make a clock, how to make invisible ink and how to make butter.

“If you have a real good experiment, you learn a lot,” says Zack Kennan, who says he knows that science is important because he plans to become a doctor.

Davis says that all 47 experiments are good learning experiences for children. “Anything that gets these kids excited about science is something positive,” she says. “And it enhances what they are learning in the classroom.”

The science experiments also teach children to think, Harvey points out.

“We are very interested in extending the children’s critical thinking,” he says. “And science is a natural avenue for that. We are also interested in getting parents involved, and this also does that. What we like about it is the idea that the students learn to think like scientists--extend their own thought processes as much as possible.”