Students take 'safari' through science

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Even though Spicewood Elementary students are many years away from tackling high school physics class, they experienced many physics and other science concepts Friday, Jan. 9, when the Kidz Science Safari visited the school.

Everything from paleontology to Bernoulli's principle was presented and engaged by children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades who readily experimented with the concepts.

When Will Hatch founded his museum in Palestine, Texas, he didn’t account for the economic downturn. So he “put wheels under” his science museum and took it on the road.

The Kidz Science Safari is part of the Ingenuity Center at the University of Texas at Tyler.

Hatch has taken his safari to 17 states, and estimates that 75,000 children have enjoyed his science experiments.

“I like getting kids excited about science,” he said. “I want them to walk away and say, ‘Wow, I want to be a scientist when I grow up.’”

Hatch succeeded with at least one student – fourth-grader Haylee Randall. The nine-year-old said she wants to be “a vet or something in science” after experience the Safari. She said she enjoyed the bubble experiment best, in which children were surrounded by a giant soap bubble they could make undulate and pop with their breath.

“I like how in science you can tell the mass of things, and see if they’re solid, liquid or gas,” Randall said. To the young student, it’s fascinating how science reveals hidden forces behind everyday life. 

For the full story and photos, see Tuesday's Highlander.