Posted: 4/18/06
Mad Science a hit with kids
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Robotic arms, wave makers, paper airplanes, and rattlesnake eggs.
Those are some of the projects that students in a ìMad Scienceî class have made in Caledonia.
ìWeíve grown our own crystal garden,î Phil Paulson said on April 10 while working on his robotic arm.
He and five other kids sat in the science classroom in Caledonia Middle School after school that day. Teachers John Benton and Mary Jane Hendel helped the students. The teachers looked official, wearing white scientist-type coats with a Mad Science logo on the back.
Itís an awesome class, Joseph Pettit said. ìBecause you get to make, like, stuff, and experiment with stuff,î he explained. Then he and Paulson demonstrated robotic arms by picking up golf balls.
Mad Science is a private company that does hands-on, entertaining science projects. Benton, who coordinates the program locally, called it science enrichment. He thinks itís as vital as reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Sometimes the classes are organized chaos, he said. Heíll have to remind the students to move slowly and do things safely. ìThey get excited,î he said. ìThey really get turned on.î
For more on the program, contact Caledonia Community Education office at 507-725-3316, extension 117, or John Benton at 507-894-4506.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com