A children’s librarian works with kids during a Science Club session at the Deptford library on Dec. 3.
The Deptford library has a monthly club that enables kids in grades three to five to learn how science explains certain events.
“Science club is an event that revolves around one main question: why?” said children’s librarian Sarah Kramer. “Why do liquids and colors and other elements react the way they do to different stimuli? Why does the world around us act like it does?”
To answer those questions, science club members instructed by Kramer first learn about a topic, then use materials provided by the library to explore answers to the “why” of that topic, in a hands-on atmosphere to make science fun.
“Science club incorporates different ideas – density, gravity, diffusion, dissolution – in a way that makes scientific principles fun for kids, often using rainbow, glitter, or edible supplies in each experiment,” said Kramer.
On Dec. 3, the kids got to learn about what conditions are needed in order to produce rainbows. To create a similar effect themselves, they used Cool Whip and colored sodas as their own “rain clouds” to figure out their density.
“Children are given the opportunity to interact with scientific concepts in a very literally hands-on way,” explained Kramer, “such as making a volcano from baking soda and vinegar (and of course adding glitter), using Skittles and water to see what happens what sugar molecules get wet … We’ve also grown a rainbow with markers, water, and paper towels.”
The library also has junior science club classes that are intended for kids in kindergarten through second grade.
Though the sessions are free, registration is required in advance at (856) 848-9149. A date for the next science club has yet to be determined, but is expected at some point in January.
“Children are invited to touch, smell and otherwise interact with every step of the experiment in question,” Kramer pointed out, “and often began developing hypotheses of their own, at which point they are given the ability to test their own ideas and find answers to questions they’ve wondered.”
