Fourth-Graders Participate in Hands-On Science in the School Day
Fourth-grade students at all 13 Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) elementary schools on Monday participated in hands-on educational activities during Science in the School Day, an experience made possible by Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille in conjunction with Cities United for Science Progress (CUSP), a partnership between The U.S. Conference of Mayors and DuPont. The ACPS Department of Curriculum and Instruction also sponsored the event.
The Mayor and seven DuPont field engineers helped students explore basic engineering principles by conducting a "puff mobile" science experiment derived from the popular children's television show "ZOOM." Mayor Euille joined the students at John Adams Elementary School as they built "puff mobiles" using everyday materials like drinking straws, lifesavers, paper, transparent tape and paper clips. Mayor Euille closed the program he attended by having the students race their inventions to determine the "fastest puff mobile in the school" for certificates of achievement.
"We are indeed honored that the U.S. Conference of Mayors and DuPont came for the first time to Alexandria for this important Science in the School Day program," said Mayor Euille. "As Alexandria continues to grow, it must prepare our future leaders with a strong math and science background. The students in Alexandria will no longer compete with local U.S. cities, but with Mumbai and Beijing. We anticipate that this experience will spark an interest in our students to consider careers in math or science, and perhaps one day aspire to become engineers."
The experience proved a great follow-up to the fourth-grade science unit "Keep on Rollin': Investigating Force and Motion," which classes completed during the first academic quarter. DuPont provided a remote control car as a prize for the puff mobile race winner at each school.
For more information, contact the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at 703-824-6655.