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Second-grade teacher Lena Why (seen here explaining the life cycle of milkweed bugs) chairs Science Night at Laurel Elementary School. Photo by John Frando. Click to enlarge.

Laurel Elementary School Science Night

On Wednesday May 7, Laurel Elementary School hosted its annual Science Night. Carefully prepared student science projects, displayed on lunch tables, occupied half of the school auditorium, while energetic, excited groups of youngsters and their parents built fun "make-and-take" projects in the other. Children and adults alike were enjoying themselves.

Second-grade teacher Lena Why organizes the popular annual event. She explained that the science projects reflected the interests of the students: "We encourage them to be creative and to develop experiments that arrive at conclusions or lead to further questions. Gone are the days of boring baking soda and vinegar volcanoes," she said.

On their project boards, students documented their experiments and described the results with tables and graphs of data, all written by children from kindergarten to fifth grade.

In one project, a student wondered whether white candles burn more quickly than blue ones. Several tests showed that white candles do burn more quickly and revealed further that white candles can drip more wax. The conclusion was "Don't put white candles on birthday cake."

Fourth grader Autumn Lai carefully measured sugar cubes to illustrate the amount of sugar in a can of the most popular sodas and then soaked pieces of dentures in those sodas and in water for a week to answer "Is Soda Bad For Your Teeth?" The tooth in Mountain Dew turned a strange bright yellow and the remaining teeth soaked in soda ranged from dull black or dark grey. Only the tooth in water remained white and shiny. She concluded that "all soda was bad for your teeth, but if you had to have a soda, drink Diet Coke."

Each year Laurel Elementary sends many choice projects to the annual school district science fair held at the Chabot Space and Science Center, held this year on May 21.

Ms. Why practices the inquiry-based FOSS (Full Option Science System) science curriculum program, developed at the Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science. By incorporating the program into her lesson plans and training other teachers in FOSS, she creates a rich student experience in science. Like all elementary-grade teachers, her lesson plans cover all subjects, but she admits to a deep love of science.

She said: "The kids call me the bug lady. My house is like a zoo, with incubators of baby praying mantis and other insects." She brings insects into the classroom and encourages the children to observe them. "Some of the children say they are afraid of spiders, but I tell them to look more closely. These are not spiders, they are milkweed bugs."

Staring at the bright orange bugs, who wouldn't be mesmerized by science?

Laurel Elementary Carnival

It was a sunny morning on May 10 as children carried balloons and prizes won from the many game booths set up in the school play yard. Teachers and parents supervised the games and handed out prizes while the school principal grilled hotdogs. Earlier in the day, several children entertained parents and guests with dances in the auditorium.

The annual school carnival is one of the many events announced on the school's new sign. Located at the corner of Brown Ave. and Kansas St., the year-old sign features a lion, the school mascot. The sign is one of the ways that the school principal communicates with school parents and neighbors about important news and events.

National Night Out " Tuesday, August 5, 6 to 9 p.m.

Residents are encouraged to participate in this national community and crime-prevention program by organizing and attending block parties to build neighborhood unity.

If more than half of the neighbors on your block agree to sign a petition, the street can be closed to vehicle traffic for an afternoon or evening. Children will have a chance to play safely in the street, while adults chat and share food potluck-style. It's a chance to bring out the grills, exchange recipes and emergency contact information or discuss an earthquake evacuation plan.

Neighbors host block parties throughout the summer, but police and city officials routinely visit block parties held on the official day of National Night Out. To organize a block party, download the city information package at the Laurel Village Association Web site: www.LaurelVillage.org.

John Frando can be reached at jfrando\@gmail.com and Kathleen Rolinson at krolinson\@gmail.com.