Apr 24, 2009 - Claremont, Calif. - Members of the Harvey Mudd College (HMC) Science Bus program have beefed up their April efforts reaching out to fledgling scientists and mathematicians.

Earlier this month, they hosted a booth at the San Diego Science Festival, where they taught participants about optical illusions. And, currently, the group is preparing for its Science Day event, to take place at HMC Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The annual event, which is free and provides lunch, offers the nearly 400 elementary school students (and their teachers and parents) taught by Science Bus volunteers a fun-filled campus day of science activities, experiments and demonstrations, including a robotics maze and a challenge in which participants will attempt to build a toy car powered completely by air.

HMC’s Professor of Mathematics Arthur Benjamin will kick off the event with his world-famous “Mathemagics” show, which offers audience members of all ages the secrets for performing rapid mental calculations. Benjamin performed at the recent San Diego Science Festival as well.

“These activities are great outreach efforts to get younger students interested in and excited by science and mathematics,” said Janet Komatsu ‘09, an engineering major who currently serves as HMC’s Science Day chairperson. “And they are great ways for HMC students to get involved as volunteers.”

The Science Bus program, which started in 2006 under the leadership of Bob Schaffer, who was a visiting professor at the time in the HMC Department of Engineering, coordinates volunteers from The Claremont Colleges to visit local elementary schools with hands-on science lessons, which usually include a demonstration, an experiment and a discussion.

While each Science Bus lesson teaches a concept, the overarching aim is to build positive associations with science so that more young men and women, especially from underrepresented groups, may pursue higher education and careers in science.