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Bubble Up Learning Fun
bubble 8
Becoming a bubble boy, third grader Marcos Grajeda, 8, watches as Science Night volunteer Allison Rigg, an Escalon High School junior, brings a huge bubble up around his body at one of the fun stations set up at Dent Elementary on Thursday night. See additional photos, Page A2. Marg Jackson/The Times

 

There were plenty of Bubble-ologists in the house on Thursday night, with the cafeteria at Dent Elementary turned in to a mini science lab.

It was the school’s annual family fun Science Night and this year the focus was on bubbles. There were plenty of different activities, all centering around the blowing or creating of bubbles, taking on a variety of shapes and sizes.

“We have 10 stations and some science fair projects on display,” said Science Night coordinator Wendy Merseth.

She estimated some 200 visitors to the Science Night on Feb. 26 enjoyed blowing a few bubbles. Members of the adult education ESL (English as a Second Language) class through the district were also there as part of an assignment, taking notes at the different stations and participating in the activities.

“This is our third ‘bubble’ night, the last time we did this was in 2009,” Merseth said of rotating themes for the Science Night events. “We’ve had physical science, life science, this year we went back to the bubbles.”

There were some rules, including making sure to walk from activity to activity, and being careful to only pop your own bubble, not the ones made by anyone else.

One station even allowed youngsters to stand on a stool and have a huge bubble brought up around their body.

On the stage, the various science fair projects were on display, so parents could take a look at those as well. Twenty-two students and two classrooms took part in the science fair at the elementary, with one classroom project and five individual student projects picked to move to the county level.

Mrs. Gregory’s class project is moving forward, as are those done by students Soren Godsey, Eli Ingalls, Theo Harp, Wyatt Riesenbeck and Genevieve Casazza. Projects ranged from determining the acidity of milk to showing how sound waves travel to what material makes the best parachute for a figure made out of Legos. The class project focused on determining how important the right fit of a safety helmet is and showing the dangers of using an ill-fitting helmet.

Merseth said the Science Night was well attended and she thanked the many volunteers who ran the stations, noting that they were an integral part of the event’s success.