Hands on Learning - Virginia Science Museum

By: Roger Brown | TriCities.com
Published: October 14, 2009

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Va. – Magnets were floating, sliding, clinking and clanking all across a classroom at High Point Elementary School, and 8-year-old Rebekah Masucci was a happy second-grader.

"It’s fun," Rebekah said. "I like learning about magnets and science, because I find out new things. It’s good to do that."

Plenty of fun, learning and other good things were on hand at High Point early Tuesday – the second day that students throughout the school were able to touch, see, hear and experiment with actual displays from the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond. The museum brought the exhibits, along with some of its educators, to give Southwest Virginia students a chance to fully experience the Science Museum, but without the high cost of making the field trip to Richmond.

"You can teach kids from books all day, but when they can get their hands on something that brings what you’re teaching to life, it makes a world of difference," said Pam Perrigan, a fifth-grade science teacher at High Point.

"You can’t measure how much something like this helps. It’s been great," she said.

In one huge classroom, High Point students roamed freely and excitedly, studying skeleton bones, testing their depth perception, learning about temperature and walking over an arch to discover the magic of gravity and balance.

And, back in Rebekah’s classroom, she and fellow classmates were hard at work under the cheerful guidance of Science Museum educator Sarah Waldrop. They were making compasses out of sewing pins, foam padding, magnets, water and small plastic cups (the type your ketchup comes in when you place a restaurant take-out order for large fries and a BBQ bacon cheeseburger).

"This is really cool for me, because the kids get to see how science can be applied to their daily lives," Waldrop said.

"It really helps them learn through experience."

And it was clear that Rebekah was among those thrilled at learning more, through their hands-on experience with the Science Museum displays.

"I already liked science," Rebekah said. "Now I like it even more."

rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512