SANTA ANA : Putting Science Fun to the Test

As his classmates looked on and giggled, Jeffrey Rodriguez, 8, slipped a straw into a pie tin filled with soapy water and blew a bubble the size of a grapefruit.

For the next 45 seconds, Jeffrey watched the bubble wiggle, shimmer and finally pop. Moments later he wrote down the result of his experiment and smiled.

Science, he noted, “is kind of fun.”

Jeffrey’s experiment, designed to show which soap solutions make the longest-lasting bubbles, was part of a weeklong science fair last week at Santiago Elementary School.

The fair included several experiments designed to teach youngsters scientific method and to encourage them to take science classes when they reach high school, Principal Linda Bell said.

“We think science is important, so we’re making it lots of fun. (The experiments) really bring students to a higher level of thinking,” she said.

Students conducted tests to show properties of water, including surface tension and how materials absorb water, and also tested hypotheses regarding which of several containers would hold the most liquid.

Third-grade teacher Jeanine McCalla praised the science fair, saying that the hands-on lessons involve the students and focus their attention much better than textbooks and lectures could.

“It’s much more effective because they’re doing actual exploration. For them, it’s much more meaningful,” she said.