Elementary Students Learn by Doing Science on Campus

Professor Seth Bush watches as students dip roses in bowls of
liquid nitrogen to study phase transitions of water.

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Shattering frozen roses, making rockets and exploring the Cal Poly campus were just a few of the activities on the list for students who attended Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing Lab Science Summer Camp.

Begun in 2008, the camp brings under-represented students from Pacheco Elementary School to campus for some hands-on science and a look at college life. "These are kids that are picked carefully by the counselor because they’ll benefit from extra attention," said Seth Bush, associate professor of chemistry and Learn by Doing Lab program director.

On the first day, Bush asks the kids to draw pictures of a scientist. They all draw old men with frizzy hair. By the end of the week, the scientists in the pictures resemble the kids in the classroom.

"Seeing themselves as a college student and as a scientist — that excitement sticks," Bush said.

In recent years, the camp has employed current and former Cal Poly students as teacher-leaders. The teacher-leaders have all completed a Learn by Doing Lab Teaching Practicum class. In the course, Cal Poly students get early field experience, and local elementary and middle school children get to practice science in a lab environment.

Bush and his colleagues set up the practicum in 2008 to help train skilled science teachers. "I want them to have an idea of what it is to be a teacher," Bush said. "The leg up they're getting is they have some hands-on experience with these abstract ideas they have in the education class."

Anthony Overton, now a physical science teacher at Paso Robles High School, was one of the first students to take the practicum. "The class is what really sparked my interest in getting my teaching credential," Overton said. "It really showed what a science class should look like: hands-on activities, scientific explorations, and most of all kids having fun! These are all things that I strive to have in my class each day."

Bush soon saw that teacher education was only part of the equation. "The kids who were visiting were so engaged and having such a good time that I knew we could be that kind of resource for our community, too."

In 2011-12, around 3000 elementary students visited the Learn by Doing lab. The lab is free and available to public, private and home schools. The application deadline has passed for the 2012-13 academic year.

For more information, email learnbydoinglab@calpoly.edu.

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