Popular science at Paularino

Michael Miller

Students at Paularino Elementary School are learning a valuable

lesson this month about science: Even great inventors make mistakes.

In fact, some of the greatest discoveries in history happened by

accident.

There was the apple that fell on Isaac Newton’s head, of course,

which lead to the formulation of the laws of gravity. But

participants in Paularino’s “Science Bloopers” after-school program

are finding out about some of the lesser-known gaffes in scientific

history -- for example, the fact that archeologists originally

reconstructed dinosaurs by putting their tails in the wrong position.

“The class did a fossil dig, and they learned that scientists used

to build dinosaurs with the tail flat on the ground,” said Vicky

Rueda of Science Adventures, a nonprofit group that administers the

program at Paularino. “Actually, it was off the ground.”

This week, Rueda said, students would learn about boomerangs,

which the Australian Aborigines invented for hunting centuries ago.

Whoever first flung one of those sticks probably didn’t expect it to

circle back to his hand. “Science Bloopers” marks the fourth and

final program Rueda’s group has sponsored at Paularino this year,

following “Slime Time,” “Awesome Oceans” and “Astro Adventures.”

First-, second- and third-graders each meet once a week for the

programs, which teach students about science largely through

interactive projects.

“They’re incredibly helpful because they encourage the children,”

said Danielle Lopez, a first-grade teacher at Paularino who

coordinates the school’s science programs. “I’ve had parents come up

to me and say these classes have really made their children love

science. It’s not learning science through a book, but through

hands-on experience.”

Apart from bloopers, the current course at Paularino instructs

students in how to follow the scientific method, regardless of how

well it ends up working. Students have been trying their luck on a

pair of recent projects: one an electrical circuit, the other an

“anti-gravity machine” consisting of a cardboard box with a string

running through it. When participants turned the box upside down, it

automatically rose toward the top of the string.

“Some of them thought there was a magnet inside, but it’s

basically the string hitting the stick that causes it to stay

suspended,” Rueda said.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Michael Miller visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about his experience.