Summer Science

We’re halfway through my last Peace Corps project! It’s a cross between summer school and day camp that focuses on hands-on science. Unfortunately, science in Pohnpei is very textbook-focused due to a lack of materials and teacher training. My principal is trying to get more support from the Department of Education, but in the meantime I decided to give the students and some of the interested teachers an introduction to scientific experiments. It’s nothing fancy – just a very rudimentary overview of the scientific process and some fun experiments.

We’ve already conducted classes for 5-7^th grade, and during the next two weeks we’ll be focusing on 2^nd-4^th grade. I originally was going to teach a computer class for the 7^th graders, but the computers aren’t working (what else is new?). They were disappointed, so I they joined in first week and they served as my assistants the second week.

(By the way, a huge thank you to those of you who donated money for supplies!)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the first two weeks:

Learning about density by layering liquids

Gak! Is it a solid or a liquid?

Neither! It's a POLYMER!

Landslide simulation

Egg drop experiment!

Explosive baking soda and vinegar volcano! (Probably the
most popular experiment of all)