On October 14, Stevenson and York Center families enjoyed an evening of building, experimenting and learning together at Science Night.
Krista DePasquale, a seventh-grade science teacher at Jackson Middle School, planned the night’s science activities with help from Jackson students, who demonstrated experiments and led multiple stations.
Families ran inside a life-size hamster wheel, tested spaghetti-and-marshmallow towers on an “earthquake” machine and explored a water-pressure trick that stopped water flow from a leaky bottle. Additional stations invited families to experiment with static electricity and glowing plasma balls, knock down cups with blasts of air, launch mini rockets and test slingshots.
The night also featured retired Jackson Middle School orchestra teacher Dave Farquhar’s model airplane and flight simulator, model-building activities with the DuPage County Department of Education’s STEM Squad, and demonstrations of everyday radio-wave uses and Morse code with the DuPage Amateur Radio Club.
The Stevenson/York Center PTA ran the event and offered snacks and other items for purchase, while Stevenson staff hosted a Scholastic Book Fair.
Throughout the evening, families worked together, asked questions and shared discoveries in multiple languages.
“Seeing families learn new things together where sometimes even the parents learn something new is the best!” said DePasquale.
Science is ALWAYS better when enjoyed together! Thank you to all the families who joined us and to Mrs. DePasquale, student volunteers, guests and the Stevenson/York Center PTA for making this evening of hands-on learning possible!