EAST BREMERTON — SEA Discovery Center Volunteer and Program Coordinator Lauren Kemper put poster paint on a rubber fish and then stamped its impression on a piece of paper.
“This is a traditional way of identifying and measuring fish … We use rubber fish for the demonstrations, of course, because they don’t spoil,” Kemper said.
Stamp a fish. Balance an eagle on your finger tip. Float a rock. Program a robot car to drive through a maze. Make a battery with pennies and vinegar. Make the Eiffel Tower (or your name) in 3-D with a plastic extrusion pen.
On July 25, all these and more were the activities that folks from Kitsap Regional Library, SEA Discovery in Poulsbo, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Puget Sound Navy Museum and the USS Turner Joy brought to the Sylvan Way branch of the Kitsap Regional Library. The goal was to stimulate the minds of middle school students by introducing them to the science, engineering and math behind the things they use every day.
About 30 to 60 young people came to each July event, officials said.
What they didn’t say — but what was obvious — was that the adult presenters appeared to be having almost as much fun as the kids.
Frank Portello, executive director of the USS Turner Joy Museum, couldn’t help grinning when he balanced a metal eagle on his fingertips to demonstrate center of mass.
“They’re weighted in the middle … It shows kids how center of gravity works,” said Portello.
And when Steve Mastel from PSNS wasn’t helping youngsters shoot bean bags at a target with a rubber-band powered catapult, he wasn’t above trying it himself.
“[The catapult] has a variety of variables that the kids can adjust so they hit the target,” he said, demonstrating.
Kitsap County Library’s Seth Ciotti wasn’t above getting down in the dirt (or on the rug, in this case) and trying his hand at programming the robot cars when the kids weren’t playing with them.
And not all of the STEM volunteers were grownups pretending not to be children.
Eighth-grade volunteer Ariana Becker from Central Kitsap Middle School was showing kids how to physically draw lines in space with the extrusion pens.
“On Aug. 4, the students and volunteers are going to be showcasing all of the work they have been doing,” said Sylvan Way children’s librarian Ericka Brunson, who organized the event for Kitsap Regional Library.
Also in August, Kitsap Regional Library will be presenting similar summer science workshops at its branches in Kingston, Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island, downtown Bremerton and Sylvan Way. To find out when, go to www.krl.org/event-types/stem.
— Terryl Asla is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at tasla@soundpublishing.com.
“On Aug. 4, the students and volunteers are going to be showcasing all of the work they have been doing,” said Sylvan Way children’s librarian Ericka Brunson, who organized the event for Kitsap Regional Library. Terryl Asla/Kitsap News Group
Programming a robot car to automatically drive through a maze took some thought. Terryl Asla/Kitsap News Group
Putting paint or ink on a rubber fish and then stamping its impression on a piece of paper “is a traditional way of identifying and measuring fish … We use rubber fish for the demonstrations, of course, because they don’t spoil,” SEA Discovery Center Volunteer and Program Coordinator Lauren Kemper said. Terryl Asla/Kitsap News Group
Kitsap County Library’s Seth Ciotti taught youngsters how to program robot cars to run through a simple maze. Terryl Asla/Kitsap News Group
