Teens teach science to kids

YOUNG MINDS AT WORK—Ishan Puri, center, helps children explore science during a recent educational program at the Discovery Center for Science and Technology. Ishan, an Oak Park High School senior, is president of the Discovery Center Teens Program. Ishan Puri enjoys sharing his love of science with younger kids. That’s why he’s involved with Discovery Center Teens, a community service volunteer program offered through the Discovery Center for Science and Technology.

As president of the center’s teen council, Ishan, an Oak Park High School senior, leads a group of 50 peers from grades eight through 12 in running educational, hands-on science programs for children and their parents.

“I really like interacting with the other teens and seeing the young children understand these ideas, these abstract concepts,” said Ishan, 17, who won first place in the annual state science fair. “We’re going to need innovation, and being part of the teen council is a pragmatic way we can espouse innovation.”

The teens present science-related activities at area elementary schools through programs such as Family Science Night. Parents and their elementary age children explore science together through hands-on projects, making predictions, collecting and evaluating data, and repeating experiments through modification.

The volunteers also help plan and run another Discovery Center parent-child program, Super Science Sunday. The annual event traditionally draws several hundred elementary-age children and their parents to the Goebel Senior Center in Thousand Oaks. The teen council staffs the science exhibits, interactive stations and activities that make up the all-day event.

“We teach them the fundamentals of science like gravity and centrifugal force,” Ishan said. “We demonstrate ideas to them through activities like building paper airplanes. If you build it (a certain) way, it will resist air.”

Puri and his fellow council members also help staff the Discovery Center’s booth and exhibits at community events like Thousand Oaks Arbor Earth Day.

Participants come from public and private middle and high schools throughout the Conejo and Simi valleys and from homeschool environments. Currently, 14 schools are represented.

Most participants are interested in science or enjoy working with children, said Carrie Glicksteen, teen program director and a Discovery Center founder and board member. Glicksteen called the teens “smart, respectful and willing to work hard.”

Glicksteen and Matthew Chuck serve as advisers to the teen program.

“As an adviser to the group, I love watching these teens grow as leaders and seeing how the younger kids look up to them,” Glicksteen said.

The teen council meets monthly at the Goebel Senior Center in Thousand Oaks. The next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Mon., Oct. 19.

Career development is an important aspect of the teen program. Professionals in science, technology, engineering or mathematics speak about their careers at each meeting. At the October meeting, Christine Sacqui, a fire/ arson investigator with the Ventura County Fire Department, will discuss the use of scientific method in determining the cause of a fire.

Scheduled speakers include a former rocket scientist who now runs a solar energy company and a forensic scientist. Past speakers featured a worker in the video game industry, a paint solvents manufacturer making the transition to new green technology, a physical therapist and a pain management physician. Last year the teens toured a pharmacy lab at Amgen in Thousand Oaks.

Meetings also include a “cool science” activity. The teen board takes turns selecting something fun and interesting to share with the group.

“One of the main goals of the Discovery Center is to get people to think critically and to become good problem-solvers,” Glicksteen said. “These ‘cool science’ demonstrations are designed to puzzle people and to challenge them to think about what they just witnessed or to predict what might happen during the demo.”

Glicksteen credits her daughter Lauren with creating Discovery Teens. While in high school, Lauren sought a community service project. The Discovery Center needed help with its education programs, so Lauren organized a group made up mostly of fellow Oak Park High students who created the program’s mission, brochures and programming. Lauren is now a college senior.

“The program continues to grow each year,” Glicksteen said. “This program develops leadership skills and other people skills that will benefit students as they move into college and career phases of their lives.”

Interested teens may download an application from www.discoverycntr.org.

For information, e-mail volunteers@discoverycntr.org.