Engineering excitement
Hands-on experiments are geared to get students interested in science, technology
By Elisabeth Nardi - Close-Up Correspondent (May 12, 2006)

Launching rockets, making clouds and directing a Red-Rover on Mars was just part of the day for the junior engineers at St. Vincent de Paul School in Holladay recently. The hands-on experiments were part of Junior Engineering Day which is put on every other year at the school by the Utah State University Extension education office. The all-day program transports engineering, science, and technology to elementary schools.

USU brings a large trailer to the school equipped with all the materials needed for every lesson. The 320 students at St. Vincent got a chance to try out the experiments with lessons that taught about everything from earthquakes to Newton's Laws. By the end of the day, each student had participated in six Junior Engineering experiments.

Bruce King, program director, said the point of the day is to get students interested in science and engineering at a young age.
"We are trying to excite young minds and introduce them to the joy of science and engineering," he said. "Before they hit puberty, . . . and especially girls get turned off to engineering, we want to give them a good start."

Both girls and boys were interested in the day's events as they went from learning about simple machines to retaining walls.
Since 1997, more than 350,000 students from more than 700 elementary schools have participated in the program.
Each of the activities is taught by teachers, with a lot of volunteer help from parents, said Rhea Hristou, a teacher and the coordinator for the event. "One reason the school only has the event every other year is because of the manpower Junior Engineering Day demands," she said. "In the end it's worth it because the students learn a lot."

"It's a great day and such a fun day," Hristou said. "It's so motivating for them to learn about science and engineering."

enardi@sltrib.com