Susquehanna Bank, CSC and DaVinci Team up for Scientist in Residence Program
Head Start children in four Allentown classrooms get a weekly visitor from Jennifer Pritchard, the Outreach Coordinator at DaVinci Science Center, made possible by an ILMS grant to DaVinci. Jennifer works with the teachers and children to bring more science into the classrooms. Jennifer is working with the teachers on how to incorporate what is typically found in the preschool classroom and use it in a scientific way.
Susquehanna Bank has just joined CSC as a partner, too, with the intention of providing assistance with science kits the children can take home. In Head Start, a major focus is placed on showing parents how they can support what their children learn in the classroom by doing activities at home.
In the classroom, one typical experiment teaches the children to “predict” how many water drops it will take to cover a paper circle. They then perform the experiment, observe, and compare their predictions with the results. During this experiment the children learn science terminology and use various science tools. Probably their most fun is painting with worms (the worms are not harmed!).
CSC is grateful to Susquehanna Bank for teaming up with the IronPigs and other ball teams to raise donations and awareness for various programs, including CSC’s Scientist in the Classroom Project. Susquehanna’s donations will be used to purchase home science kits for the children.
Integrating science and math in the classroom helps preschool children expand their vocabularies, learn concepts around comparisons, improve their observation, develop math skills, and of course have fun.