THOUSAND OAKS : Schoolchildren Test Theories in Science Games

Teams of students at Banyan Elementary School waited expectantly to see if their boxes had been packed smartly enough to protect the delicate eggs inside from shattering during a 34-foot fall to the pavement.

One box dropped during the science experiment this week, and green jelly splattered in all directions. Not surprisingly, the egg inside did not fare much better than the green goo that was supposed to protect it.

Another box fell with a thud, but its cargo remained intact.

The students, who had worked together to devise packing methods for the experiment, rushed forward excitedly to check the results at the school’s Science Olympiad, a day of experimentation and hands-on scientific investigation.

Ten-year-old Meghan Purdy liked what she saw when her team’s box was torn open.

“Our egg survived!” she shouted to a friend. “I never thought it would, because it went kersplat .”

The egg drop was one of several experiments in the annual olympiad in Thousand Oaks. While students compete for records and victories in some olympiad events, the goal of the day was to learn scientific methods, said fifth-grade teacher Alan Nubling.

“It’s a way to get them involved in the process of science,” Nubling said. “You have a problem, think of a way to solve it, analyze what you find out and redesign the experiment if you have to.”

Students built paper ramps and had to calculate the best height and incline to make a marble travel farthest. They tried to guess how many weights would be needed to keep a helium balloon from rising and they constructed aluminum-foil boats that could carry 30 or more pennies and still float on water.

Hopping from event to event in teams, the children said they found the science day fun and challenging.

“It’s neat to learn about how to do things in science and there’s no wrong and right,” said fifth-grader Matt Valenzuela, 10. “You just experiment with things and if you don’t do it the first time, you can experiment again.”

Three other Thousand Oaks schools are holding similar Science Olympiads: Madrona, Ladera and Maple. In Simi Valley, all schools send some students to compete at a similar districtwide science competition.