Where Was Dom When We Were In Fifth Grade?

Spring is here. And our newsletter, CIS Connections, is almost here too, making its way to 2,000 of you. This attendance-themed newsletter will be available on our website, snuggled alongside other archived gems. Featured in this issue is an interview with CIS Board member, Dom Pullo. A Scientist from Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health), Dom has been volunteering with Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo since 2004. For nine years, he has been showing up to run a science club that Kalamazoo Public School students clamor to attend. Pretty good attendance record, don’t you think?

Take a sneak peek as Dom, in his own words, describes the experiments he and Kelly Kievit, a Zoetis colleague, are doing with children at Edison Environmental Science Academy along with the support of Eric Clark, Field Enrichment Coordinator with Kalamazoo Public Schools. After reading it, check out these pictures on our Facebook album, taken by Freshwater Photography.

The experiments, discussion and demonstrations we provide are not run of the mill fifth grade lessons, but we do try to align some of the content with the curriculum. For example, last month we conducted experiments where the students mixed chemicals that created a chemiluminscent reaction. Or, in other words “light.” This aligns with their early investigations into energy in a fun way. We also discuss other reactions that generate light like bioluminescence found in animals and plants, phosphorescence and fluorescence and provide some “around the house” examples. We discuss what is happening at an atomic level, describing the excitation and relaxation of electrons into the “ground-state” and that the energy given off is in the spectrum of energy we see as light. We help them make a “kid-connection” of the “excited state” and “ground state” of electrons by drawing an analogy to the playground! They love it…and it’s our very first experiment of the year. We then link this to Glow Sticks…something they know, and now understand how they work… through science!

We’ll venture into statistics to understand the mathematical concepts of averages and probability. We’ll extract DNA from split peas and investigate circuit theory. In the past we’ve made batteries out of lemons, made Astrolabes, (an ancient navigational aid) and compared them to modern day GPS satellites. Then there are the demonstrations like our kick-off “explosion” where I pour boiling water into a bucket of liquid nitrogen! A definite crowd pleaser for all ages! And this year, a finale, where I’ll crush a 50 gallon drum with 1 gallon of water (shh!) An exciting way to discuss the states of matter! At the end of the year we host a “game show” like “Jeopardy.” The kids retain so much of the information presented; it amazes me every year!