A carnival of science blossoms at SDSU
for 300 young Einsteins

Anna Cearley
STAFF WRITER
11-Jun-2000 Sunday

SAN DIEGO -- Science had rarely been so wiggly, sticky and tasty.

Elementary school students attending a science fair yesterday at San Diego State University loaded up on worms. They made green, gooey polyvinyl acetate globs. And they watched as wispy fur balls of cotton candy emerged from a heated powder mix.

The carnival ambience was just the hook. The approximately 300 students and their parents left with lessons on the hermaphroditic talents of worms, the intricacies of polymers, and the evasive quality of elements that bounce between solid, liquid and gas forms.

Mercedes Gomez, 8, of National City usually races worms she catches in the back yard. This time she was taking notes on how they react to different surfaces.

After careful examination she wrote "it likes it" next to the category of black paper. She also observed "it moves a lot," on a dry towel, and "it doesn't move," on a wet towel.

Future scientists have to start somewhere.

Angling for that first display of interest were professors and teachers hovering around the various activity booths. The event was sponsored by San Diego State University through a grant provided by the National Institute of Health.

"We want to give them an idea of what they can get into, and we are grooming them for admission to San Diego State University," said Dr. Paul Paolini, associate dean in the school's College of Sciences.

The carnival was just one component of the $200,000 three-year grant that focuses on nine schools in the South Bay area. The intent is to reach out to students who are usually under-represented in the sciences through special teacher training, parental involvement projects and high-tech software.

The worm booth was a big hit at the fair. Summer Freyler, a first-grade teacher at Clear View Charter School in Chula Vista, dispensed worms. "I want them (students) to explore the effect of different surfaces and environments on the worms," she said.

In general, the worms were expected to gravitate toward the damp and dark surfaces. There were exceptions, like the worm Gomez observed. For those who wanted to delve into the worm's inner motives, a nearby booth offered a peek into dissected worms.

Especially brave students could also visit an anatomy lab where instructors gave lessons on the human body with perhaps the most powerful visual image possible -- a corpse.

Instructor Mala Wingerd gave a forewarning, before lifting the towel. "If you think you are going to be uncomfortable about this, then don't stay," she said. "I can deal with blood and guts, but I can't deal with barf."

The initial shock of seeing the body wore away quickly as the instructor gave a detailed, impartial account of how food makes its journey through the innards, allowing life to take flight. Wide eyes evolved into furrowed brows.

Although the cadaver visit was one of the most popular tours, other sideshow exhibits captured students' attention. They visited an electron microscope facility, where insects and cells can be magnified to 10,000 times their size. Students got their heart rates monitored, and prowled around skulls and bones plucked from small animals.

Back at the science fair, several students used uncooked spaghetti and miniature marshmallows to tackle the kind of challenge faced daily by civil engineers: Designing a building that won't fall down. Some students found that structural beauty doesn't always translate to the sturdiest frame.

National City Middle School teacher May Lualhati whispered the trick: Begin with a solid square base. "You need to start with a good frame before you go on to the next level," she said. "It's just like science itself . . . you start at one level, and it builds from there."

Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co.