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Dipping into the treasure trove

By Sandy Mouat
CORRESPONDENT

Friday at Happy Valley Elementary School, the excitement builds anew. On that day, parent volunteer Laura Gambel visits the classrooms, bringing the Discovery Boxes which contain everything needed to perform grade-appropriate, hands-on, interactive science experiments at home. Each week a different student eagerly awaits his or her turn to check out a Box — library style — for the weekend.
        Through a grant from the Lafayette Arts & Science Foundation and a donation from the Liu-Johnson family, Gambel put together a pilot program of Discovery Boxes for every grade level at Happy Valley. She came up with the idea from her experience working at the Exploratorium, and from visiting museums that have "discovery rooms" which provide the opportunity for hands-on learning and a means for attracting people to science. As an adaptation of that idea, the Discovery Boxes are stocked with equipment and instructions for science experiments or manipulatives that demonstrate scientific principles being studied in the classroom. The experiments are keyed to the curriculum for each grade level. For instance, the fifth grade Boxes have a mini-planetarium called the "Star Theater," and a kit called "The Mystery of the Bloody Stain." The latter is a fascinating mini-forensics lesson. The students match a stain from a mock burglary crime scene with samples of simulated blood from three suspects : learning about blood typing in the process. They are sworn to secrecy so as not to spoil the experiment for the next student.
        "In most cases, the experiments are designed to be done by an individual, but can be shared by the whole family," said Gambel. "When I think of the Star Theater kit going home, I picture in my mind a whole family lying on their backs on the family room floor, watching the night sky appear before them and having a chance to pause it at a spot they find particularly interesting or want to understand better. You can't do that at a real planetarium show. This lets you take your time and take from it what you find most interesting. I really think it lets you take so much more from each experience."
        Gambel continued, "When the students were invited to enroll in the program, I had fully prepared myself for the possibility that no one would sign up. I was delighted that almost 300 children signed up by the third day of school. Thanks to the efforts of my fabulous aide, Karleen Sabin, things are now running very smoothly and we are even incorporating some new Discovery Boxes at the third, fourth, and fifth grade levels where the highest concentration of participants exists. We should soon see two boxes per class go out every weekend at those grade levels."
        After delivering some of the Boxes herself, Sabin beamed and said, "I got a hug, a big hug, today from a student who was so happy it was her turn."
        "I feel like some kind of science celebrity when I walk across the campus to our Discovery Box room," said Gambel. "The kids run up to me and ask 'Mrs. Gambel when is it my turn?' And on Fridays when I walk into each classroom to deliver the Boxes, the expectant looks and hushed whispers are priceless. Each child accepts the Box with awe and expectation."
        Adrienne Rogers' third grade students especially enjoyed using the microscope Discovery Box at home. They liked being able to do the included activities and create their own experiments.
        Second grade student Molly Brog said that her favorite experiment was to make plaster casts with the Discovery Box that comes with all of the necessary materials, including a real fossil, a seashell and a plastic dinosaur. She was delighted to have made a cast of her own plastic sea horse, as well.
        Doing the experiments at home has the added benefit of engendering in-depth discussions between parents and children. Gambel cited an exchange with her own daughter created by the plaster cast experiment. Her daughter noticed that the material became warm as it hardened, which sparked a conversation about thermodynamics and the fact that the plaster gives off heat as it changes composition.
        Upon returning to school on Monday, short compositions relating what they learned from the experiments are expected from the students. There are also evaluation forms for parents to comment. Many parents have included notes of gratitude upon hearing their children shout out "cool" or "awesome" while doing the activities in the Discovery Boxes.
        Some parents have commented to Gambel that they have several science kits at home, but never do them. "There is something so exciting for the kids when they bring it home themselves and are motivated on their own," Gambel added. "That was one of my goals, to make the kids feel like they owned the program, that each Box was theirs for that weekend."
        Gambel hopes to replicate the program at the other elementary schools in the district, as well as at a disadvantaged school somewhere in Contra Costa County.
        "This is still a dream which I hope to see come true," she said.

2/02 Reprinted with permission. Visit the Contra Costa Times on the web at www.contracostatimes.com.

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