Written by Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Throughout the month of March, the Walpole Public Library (WPL) hosted Mad Science of Southern MA & RI every Thursday to introduce a range of different Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) topics. Mad Scientist Solar Shelly has taught about dinosaurs, worms and toys so far, with an upcoming topic on film effects closing out the month.
Every Thursday, children in grades K-3 enter the library to participate in some fun science-based activities, all while receiving a mini-lesson at the beginning of each session. Solar Shelly brought a variety of toys, some new and old, and explained how each one worked.
Before starting this class, Solar Shelly made sure to review the three rules of Mad Science with all of the children. These rules included using their ears to listen/raising their hands and waiting to be called, not touching anything in the room unless asked to, and most importantly, have fun!
In this workshop, kids were able to test out the games, play with them and think about how the games work while spending time with some of their friends. Throughout the hour, Solar Shelly discussed games that use gravity, imagination and energy, giving various examples such as the ladder game and the color-changing ball.
After the mini lesson, it's time for the kids to start playing some fun games. Solar Chile has set up five different stations around the room with the young scientists spending about five minutes at each station. The first station contains gear toys and balancing cubes, the second station contains balancing robots and cacti, the third station contains a variety of spinning tops, the fourth station includes a magnetic board with marbles, and the fifth station contains race cars that attendees will try to crash into a wooden vehicle. roadblock.
While everyone was playing with the toys at each station, Solar Shelly walked around the room, helping anyone who needed it and explaining how each toy uses a piece of STEAM to work. Everyone in attendance had a great time during this session and are looking forward to the final chapter in the future!
For more information about Mad Science, please visit their website www.madscience.org.
“Subtly charming problem solver. Extreme tv enthusiast. Web scholar. Evil beer expert. Music nerd. Food junkie.”