Published:\u00a0<\/strong>Wednesday, May 1, 2013<\/p>\n Updated:\u00a0<\/strong>Wednesday, May 1, 2013 02:05<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thirty-three school groups from Linn and Benton counties came to Tuesday\u2019s half of the semi-annual Discovery Days event, with grades as young as kindergarten and as old as sixth grade represented among the expected number of nearly 1000 children per day. Margie Haak, Discovery Days coordinator and a senior instructor in chemistry, has been working with Discovery Days for 10 years, but can remember chaperoning her oldest son\u2019s class to the event when it was called Museum Days \u2014 her son is now 28. \u201cWe\u2019re in the position that we can offer them things that they can\u2019t do in the schools,\u201d Haak said. \u201cThese are our future students.\u201d<\/p>\n Discovery Days takes place at the LaSells Stewart Center on the south side of the OSU campus.<\/p>\n Jasper LaFortune\u2019s station featured a beaker of water and dry ice that produced carbon dioxide, which students scooped up in plastic cups.<\/p>\n \u201cKids can take a cup and dip it in and drink it and throw it on their friends and have a lot of fun with it,\u201d LaFortune, a freshman in computer science, said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a really fun way for us to interact with children and expand the knowledge of science throughout our community,\u201d said Rachel Grisham, a freshman in biology and a Sigma Delta Omega member.<\/p>\n \u201cTeaching students, especially female students, about science is very important,\u201d Haak said.<\/p>\n Taylor McAnally, a freshman in human development and education, helped children learn about light, reflectivity and temperature.<\/p>\n \u201cThey get a chance to come play and really learn one-on-one with hands-on stuff,\u201d McAnally said.<\/p>\n For Abdu Alyajouri, a second grader from Franklin elementary school, it was his sixth time at Discovery Days. His favorite station was one that involved static electricity because he \u201cgot to shock people,\u201d he said. \u201cI like the static one because it\u2019s really fun to shock people,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n Bell said she likes science and wants to be a teacher.<\/p>\n Discovery Days continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Attracting children to science By\u00a0McKinley Smith Published:\u00a0Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Updated:\u00a0Wednesday, May 1, 2013 02:05 Kevin RagsdaleOSU\u2019s Sigma Delta Omega sorority, leads kids through a dry ice experiment during Discovery Days at the LaSells Stewart Center. Kevin RagsdaleBrad\u2019s World Reptiles brings a juvenile alligator to Discovery Days. Thirty-three school groups… Continue reading ![\"Discovery](\"http:\/\/www.dailybarometer.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3039289!\/image\/1714129104.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/landscape_260\/1714129104.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
Kevin RagsdaleOSU\u2019s Sigma Delta Omega sorority, leads kids through a dry ice experiment during Discovery Days at the LaSells Stewart Center.<\/p>\n![\"Discovery](\"http:\/\/www.dailybarometer.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3039290!\/image\/3557512384.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/landscape_260\/3557512384.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
Kevin RagsdaleBrad\u2019s World Reptiles brings a juvenile alligator to Discovery Days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nDiscovery Days is sponsored by the Colleges of Science and Engineering and relies on volunteers to run stations showcasing science and engineering for children from schools in cities like Sweet Home and Lebanon. Nearly 75 volunteers \u2014 mostly Oregon State University students \u2014 submitted applications to assist.<\/p>\n
\nThe event provides an opportunity for students to gain exposure to \u201cdoing science rather than reading about it,\u201d Haak said.<\/p>\n
\nThe sorority, Sigma Delta Omega, was also represented, presenting two demonstrations featuring dry ice.<\/p>\n
\nSophia Bell, another second grader at Franklin, also said she liked the static station.<\/p>\n
\nMcKinley Smith, news reporter
\nnews@dailybarometer.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"