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Family Science Saturday Connects Campuses

Upper School volunteers enjoyed the chance to show their younger peers how much fun science can be.

BB&N’s oldest students had a chance to flex their science muscles and get to know their younger counterparts during a recent Family Science Saturday held at the Upper School.

“The Family Science Saturday was a great experience because it was very rewarding to introduce kids to applied sciences and get them thinking about how the world works,” said Jessica Brodsky ’10, one of the Upper School volunteers.  

Put into groups of four, Lower School students joined their older peers for two simple experiments—creating a hand game with an electrical circuit where the object is to pass an eyelet along a bare wire without touching the edges; and another to demonstrate buoyancy with balloon “divers” in a bottle filled with water.

“Both of these concepts are not easy for young kids to understand but, by the end, the kids were zealously explaining them to their parents,” Brodsky said. “My group was all second grade boys and they were the most mature second graders I have ever met.  They were eager to build the projects, asked thoughtful questions, and carefully followed each instruction. They helped each other in a friendly manner and were truly excited when their experiments worked. At the end, one of the boys informed me that he planned on sharing his experiment with his friends and teaching them all about it.”

Organizers and science teachers Caitlin Drechsler and Leah Cataldo agreed the event allowed Upper School students to set a positive example for Lower School students and show them how much fun science can be.

“The LS students were attentive and seemed to be having fun as the Upper School students were walking them through their science activities and the Upper School students really enjoyed working with the younger students,” said Cataldo, who also led several Lower School families who had not seen the construction at the Upper School on a tour of the new facilities.

The Upper School volunteers were also excited to give the kids a preview of what’s in store for their BB&N future.

“These type of events are great ways to get younger kids excited about science and hopefully that enthusiasm will carry over to their Upper School years,” said Emily Daggett ’09.  “In addition to all that the children learned, it was great for the Upper Schoolers to learn some skills important in working with and teaching young kids.  I look forward to participating in another one of these Science Saturdays in the future.”