FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 28, 2011
Contact: Sebastian D’Elia, 908-527-4419
Tom Plante, 908-527-4746
“Mad Science” After School Workshop Returns to Trailside, Feb. 16
MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ – After a very successful debut last fall, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Department of Parks and Community Renewal are pleased to announce the return of the after school Mad Science Workshop Series at Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside. This exciting after school science program is for students in grades 1 through 5, and will run on six consecutive Wednesdays, beginning on Feb. 16 and ending on March 23. Each class will run from 3:45 – 4:45 p.m. and the cost for the six classes is $109 per child. Pre-registration is required.
“These classes are sure to provide an exciting venture into the world of science through intriguing facts, hands-on fun, and engaging experiments,” said Freeholder Daniel Sullivan, liaison to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. “We are proud to offer this opportunity to encourage children to embrace science by making it accessible and fun.”
This after school series was developed by Mad Science of West New Jersey, a division of the Mad Science Group (www.madscience.org which sends Mad Scientists around the world to demonstrate that there is much more to science than what children read in textbooks. The goal of the Mad Science series is to spark the imagination of children and get them interested in science through a combination of exciting experiments and dramatic hands-on fun while applying pure science principles.
The series of educational and fun science workshops will include six classes: Bugs!; Detective Science; Earthworks; Movie Effects; Mad Machines, and Science of Toys.
In Bugs!, students will explore what characteristics insects have and create grasshoppers that really jump, while in Detective Science, students step into the role of a detective to discover how forensic science plays a role in solving crimes. They will also create and analyze finger prints, examine dental records, make teeth impressions and discover how written materials can be analyzed to help solve a crime.
It is “Einstein meets Spielberg” in Movie Effects, which will allow students to learn firsthand how advances in science and technology make our favorite special effects possible. They will make a cartoon creation to take home. Students will see minerals fluoresce before their eyes and take home beads that do the same in Earthworks, while students will become the proud owners of a cool Mad Science Machine that they build in Mad Machines. Science and play become intertwined as students use bouncing balls, yo-yos and other classic toys to discover the science of motion in the Science of Toys.
For information about this After School Science Workshop Series, or about any other programs or upcoming special events at Trailside, please call 908-789-3670 or visit us on the web at www.ucnj.org/trailside Trailside Nature & Science Center is located at 452 New Providence Road (at Coles Avenue) in Mountainside and is a service of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
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For more information on any Union County press release, please contact Sebastian D’Elia, Communications Director for the County of Union, or a designee listed at the top of this press release. Please join the County of Union online at www.ucnj.org on Facebook at www.ucnj.org/facebook and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/countyofunionnj .
