Club’s Ideas Take Flight : Education: Middle school science group in Carson learns down-to- Earth methods for an upcoming trip--to another planet.

On certain weekday afternoons, chaos reigns in Allen Goldsmith’s classroom at Calle Mayor Middle School in Carson. Or at least it seems that way.

Every Thursday and Friday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. the Science Club meets in Goldsmith’s cluttered classroom. One reason for the hubbub is that they’re preparing for a trip to another planet.

In one corner a giggling group trades messages via computer with the Science Club at Madrona Middle School. Outside, a student experiments with acetone and a spectrometer to test for chlorophyll. In another room, three boys tape together plastic tarps to create their own biosphere.

Through these practical, hands-on experiences, Goldsmith says, his students learn how mathematics, science and technology are related--and may even learn to love science.

Goldsmith, a teacher for more than 30 years, frequently changes his curriculum. This year students in his after-school Science Club are working on a project called “A Visit to a New Planet.”

The experiments designed by Goldsmith for the trip to the imaginary planet guide the students through chemical, meteorological and biological properties of different materials.

Supplies for the projects are everywhere, mixed in with computers, rocks, beakers and Bunsen burners. To an outsider, the clutter and activity may seem overwhelming, but Goldsmith says the students are in the midst of serious scientific discovery.

“They’re learning a lot of very complicated things without even knowing it,” Goldsmith said.

The true test of their labors comes in April, when they will camp in the desert for two days and put their knowledge to work--as if they had landed on a new planet.

Working in teams, the teen-agers will use the experiments and equipment they have brought along to explore the terrain near Blythe.

When the students set out to perform the experiments they practiced back in the classroom, Goldsmith will make sure that they experience the thrill of discovering interesting results.

One of Goldsmith’s tricks is to crumble used mantles from camp lanterns into powder and adhere the dust to rocks--creating harmless but exciting radioactive samples for his students to find.

“I want them to feel like they did something real, not just pretend,” Goldsmith said. “They’ll remember it forever.”

One of the teams will look for chlorophyll, the green pigment in plant cells involved in photosynthesis. Last week, eighth-grader Karthik Ramachandran practiced using acetone to remove chlorophyll from plants, then analyzed chlorophyll’s spectral pattern.

Now that they have seen the pattern, the students can compare it to samples they find on their trip and determine whether the new environment has the potential for photosynthesis.

Joshua Mierly, Lindsay McLeary and Adam Moore proudly showed off the sleeping quarters recently that they created out of plastic tarps. Designing the structure forces the youngsters to consider what scientists visiting a new place would face.

The boys taped the tarps together and used a box fan to blow it up. Each team constructs shelters and places to work, all of which will be connected together. McLeary, 13, said they picked the dark plastic to give their sleeping area privacy and to retain heat for cold nights.

While the students work, Goldsmith moves from group to group offering advice.

Teams of students will look for carbon-based life, test for specific minerals and work with solar-powered equipment. Goldsmith helps them devise the tests, but he doesn’t stop them from experimenting.

“I like to take something really complicated and take it down to their level,” Goldsmith said. “Then some of them just take off with the idea.”

Youngsters don’t have to be scientific wizards to join the 30 to 35 members of the club. Goldsmith has no academic requirements or registration for participation in the Science Club.

Any child from sixth to eighth grades at Calle Mayor can be a member.

He gleans interesting projects from teaching magazines and books and from other science teachers.

“Basically, the kids get stuck doing what I like to do,” Goldsmith said.