On the board behind Children’s Librarian Bettielou Hill are a set of equations that wouldn’t be out of place in a high school chemistry classroom.
But Hill – affectionately known as “Ms. Boo” – isn’t teaching high-schoolers. She has an audience of elementary-schoolers. Despite some of the advanced concepts on display, the children are catching on. That’s because Hill is teaching them using something they understand – Legos.
Each element is assigned a color, and the children of the Wilton Public and Gregg Free Library’s Science Club get to build chemical compounds with Lego. They build the structures for sodium bicarbonate – also known as baking soda – and acetic acid, better known as vinegar.
She then has them use the same Lego to create the compounds created when mixing baking soda and vinegar.
It’s a simple way to get through an advanced concept, Hill explained, that nothing is created or destroyed, just transformed.
“I love science, and I know a lot of kid-friendly science experiments,” Hill said. “The kids are really enthusiastic and exited to learn something new, and play with Lego while they do it. If I can get those basic principles across, that’s all they need to know at this point.”
Of course, once the concept has been taught, it’s time to put it into practice.
Hill has already prepared some classics so the children can see the results of a chemical reaction for themselves. Balloons with baking soda inside have been attached to the open tops of bottles with vinegar inside. In an outdoor activity, the children get to dump the baking soda into the bottle, and watch the resulting carbon dioxide inflate the balloon.
Then, one lucky volunteer, Evan Knight, gets to dump a stack of 10 Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke to result in a 10-foot soda geyser.
Not to worry, Hill assures her class – another volunteer can try it in another meeting with a bottle of regular Coke, so they can see whether the added sugar makes a difference in the height of the spray.
Kara Nixon of Lyndeborough was one of the parents who brought her children to the science club. Her daughter Amelia had heard about the club through a flyer sent home with students of Florence Rideout Elementary School, and was interested in checking it out.
“I’m thinking we’ll be back,” Nixon said, after helping her daughter with the baking-soda-and-vinegar experiment. “She loves science, and I think being able to do these kinds of experiments with other kids her age is great, because she gets to have that shared interest with them.”
And, Nixon said, her daughter had made a new friend, Kinleigh Goodie of Wilton, whom she partnered with on their experiments. Though the girls go to the same school, they’re in different grades, and hadn’t met before.
Malissa Knight of Wilton, Evan’s mother, said the fact that the club was mixed ages was a plus, as Evan is an only child, and clubs like this were a way for him to interact with other students outside of his class.
“We’re always trying to find different ways to keep him engaged,” Knight said.
At the end of the club, Hill offers suggestions for library books for students to carry out their own experiments with common kitchen or household items, for them to continue learning until the next time they meet.
Science Club is scheduled to meet the third Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at Wilton Collaborative Space, with the exception of August, when the club will not meet. The next meeting is July 19 at 4 p.m., and Hill hopes to keep the program going indefinitely.
The lessons are suitable for children in grades one to five. Reservations are required as space is limited. Parents who are interested in enrolling their child can contact Hill at the Wilton Public and Gregg Free Library at 603-654-2581.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.