Science Saturday, the debut elementary school science showcase event held by SNHS, intends to introduce more interest in science into young students.

Science is often thought of as a large, imposing subject that only true intellectuals can understand, but many people forget the awe-inspiring demonstrations from their elementary school years.  Simply dropping Mentos into Coke and watching the reaction with excitement can spark an interest in science from a young age. The Science National Honor Society hopes to spark exactly that during their Science Saturday event.

The event will be held in March, and will involve a series of hands-on demonstrations for third through fifth graders in the community. It is being held by PFHS teachers and members of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS), and its main purpose is to create a fun atmosphere for kids to learn science without being quizzed or pressured to learn facts.

SNHS sponsor Cathy Whitlow is participating in this debut event as a publicity organizer and coordinator – she, along with Russell Murphy, another SNHS sponsor, came up with the idea for the event.

“Mr. Murphy had an idea to do a rocket workshop with elementary kids,” said Whitlow. “I thought it might be nice to include exposure to some other science.”

The demonstrations being shown include DNA extraction from strawberries and owl pellet dissection – both of which are interactive experiments intended to intrigue the kids and create more of an interest in science.

“Interactive learning is more effective and engaging than lectures for most students at any age,” said Whitlow.

Whitlow has advertised the event to local elementary schools, and hopes that the hands-on demonstrations will prove successful in interesting the children.

“I think it might create more of an interest in learning science if they get to do some fun labs,” she said. “I hope they will just have fun exploring science without the worry of doing school work.”