Science department hosts activities to celebrate World Science Day

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by Marianna De Jesus Cesar Guadamuz

SSSCIENCE: Jenifer McAndrew shows off her classroom snake to eager students. McAndrew set up a table to feature her classroom pets for World Science Day. Photo by Naylie Hernandez

Even in the chaos of lunchtime, the never ending pursuit of science continued as West Broward’s science department celebrated World Science Day during lunch in the courtyard. With the goal of engaging and inspiring students to explore the world around them, science teachers brought out their best, flashiest displays of natural wonder.

On Wednesday Nov. 10, science department head Sarah Zorn-Milmed helped fellow science teachers set up booths during lunch to represent the variety of science courses taught at West Broward in commemoration of World Science Day. Teachers held exhibitions and experiments designed to engage and draw students attention. Providing an informative experience that highlighted the important role science plays in our society was the goal of the event.

“The beauty of science is that it is always evolving and there is always something new to learn about it. So even when we think we know everything there is always something more,” said zoology teacher Jenifer McAndrew. “Putting an emphasis on science is really important in the direction that our society goes.”

Raising awareness of the importance of science in our daily lives, each teacher participated in the celebration of world science day by creating a booth that represented their respective science course. McAndrew presented the beauty of animals and zoology to the students by showing the different animals and critters in her classroom. Physics teachers Jordan Mack and Nicholas White engaged students by enticing them through a dry ice experiment demonstrating how it creates pressure in closed environments.

“We all held different tables with experiments and demonstrations for the students,” Mack said. “The booths are fun to look at, engaging, and get the attention of the students so that people who usually do not want to participate, will join.”

The event informed students about the wonders of science in a different way than what is taught in a classroom. With more hands-on activities and demonstrated experiments, students’ interests were piqued and a new appreciation for science emerged. Celebrating World Science Day highlighted the allure of experimentation and observation for natural phenomena.

“Every year we try to brainstorm ways to get students engaged in science and every time we do world science day we get a lot of great feedback and multiple interests,” McAndrew said. “I am hoping that by putting our science out there in front of students that we get them more engaged. We really want to show that science is so much more than just biology and chemistry.”