Apr 13, 2012 - Claremont, Calif. -

Science Bus volunteers will host about 100 elementary school students for the program’s Science Day on Saturday, April 14 at Harvey Mudd College.

The free, annual event offers a day of fun and science activities for students taught by the Science Bus program student volunteers. Their parents and teachers are also welcome at the event.

Bearing the theme “Science at Home,” the event will feature a chemistry demonstration—“Don’t Try This at Home”—by HMC students Devon Stork ’15, Will Ferenc ’13 and Grant Ukropina ’13.

Participants will engage in a variety of science experiments, demonstrations and hands-on activities, including:

•    Strawberry DNA Extraction
•    Alka-Seltzer Rockets
•    Puff Mobiles (building a car out of lifesavers and straws)
•    Cabbage Juice Paper Art (using cabbage juice as a pH indicator)
•    Oil Density (layering oils on top of each other)
•    Robots

“Our goal for this event is to do bigger and better experiments outside of normal Science Bus lessons,” said Julia Lee '14, who is co-chairing Science Day along with Beverly Yeh '14 and Miranda Parker '14. “We also want kids to see what a college campus is like, as most participating students come from families without a background in higher education."

The Science Bus program started in 2006 under the leadership of Bob Schaffer, a visiting professor that year in the HMC Department of Engineering. The program coordinates student volunteers—from across The Claremont Colleges—who visit local elementary schools to deliver hands-on science lessons. The lessons often include a demonstration, an experiment and a discussion.

Program volunteers strive to build positive associations with science so that more young men and women—especially from underrepresented groups—will be encouraged to pursue higher education and careers in the scientific disciplines.

Science Day is made possible through the efforts of the program’s student volunteers, along with HMC’s faculty and staff. 

View more about Science Bus.