Bubbles, Oobleck, heads or tails, penny drop, bottle rocket launching, dry ice experiments, paper airplanes, balloon races and building a bridge with marshmallows were games, puzzles and experiments that brought the natural science of physics to children in La Mesa.
Held at Highwood Park, kids played and learned at the same time. Fun experiments gave them the ability to touch, hear, feel and see science in action.
Bubbles, Oobleck, heads or tails, penny drop, bottle rocket launching, dry ice experiments, paper airplanes, balloon races and building a bridge with marshmallows were games, puzzles and experiments that brought the natural science of physics to children in La Mesa.
Held at Highwood Park, kids played and learned at the same time. Fun experiments gave them the ability to touch, hear, feel and see science in action.
Launching two-liter soda bottles 30 feet in the air with a bicycle pump, pvc pipes and a little water was “awesome” said Caden, 5, as he begged his mother to try the experiment so he could watch it shoot through the sky again.
Zachary, 8, was up to his elbows in green Oobleck, a concoction of cornstarch and water where molecules react to the heat from touch. It can be rolled into balls, thrown at a wall and bounce, stretched and played with, but when left alone it becomes a liquid, compared to quicksand. Amanda Bowers, Mad Science instructor, had her table filled as she demonstrated the many things that can happen with a reaction from dry ice. Most popular was the creation of bubbles that when popped, a puff of fog exploded in the air with it, from the reaction of dry ice dropped into hot water. Kids counted Legos to see how many it would take to sink an aluminum boat, found out how many drops of water each side of a penny can hold until it overflows and discovered the difference in materials that sink or float. Behind all the fun was the knowledge about the science of matter and its motion and energy and force.
Michele Greenberg-McClung, La Mesa Community Services recreation supervisor said this was the second year for Fun with Physics and would not be possible without the support of the City of La Mesa, La Mesa Park & Recreation Foundation, San Diego Science Alliance, Play Well Technologies, Mad Science, Helix and Grossmont Interact students and the La Mesa Middle School science class.
“Here, children have fun, learn about science experiments and get excited about science,” she said. “It also introduces them to one of our parks here in La Mesa.”
