Chapman students from the Student Scientific Society and the American Chemical Society taught 28 homeless children, from fourth to eighth grade, how to make silly putty and turn Coke bottles with Mentos candy into geysers last Thursday, Nov. 20.

The students performed a series of science demonstrations for the children in the Hashinger Science Center to get them excited about science and expose them to the opportunity of going to college. The homeless children live in Orange County and attend the Project Hope School in Orange.

“This was the best day of my life,” said Destiny, a fourth grader at Project Hope School.
Destiny is interested in pursuing science in the future and enjoyed making the silly putty, she said.

The Panther has decided not to disclose the last name of the child to protect her identity.

This is the first time Project Hope School has organized a trip to Chapman since it was founded more than 20 years ago, according to David Valle, the lead teacher at Hope School.

Hope School provides a learning environment to homeless children who otherwise would not be going to school, according to Valle. It also provides academic and emotional support to former homeless children who are trying to transition back into a traditional school environment, he said.

The Student Scientific Society – an organization of about 40 students who are interested in and promote science – and the Chapman chapter of the American Chemical Society wanted to encourage children to pursue careers in science, according to Christine Hughey, adviser to the American Chemical Society and assistant professor of chemistry.

“We need people that are interested and excited in science so that we can move our country forward in innovation,” said Hughey.

Assistant professor of biology Melissa Rowland-Goldsmith and senior Darin Brown, the event’s main organizer, believe the event succeeded in getting the children interested in pursuing an education or career in science, they said.

“We started out with four or five students raising their hand who wanted to go into science and by the end of the two hours, [the number] went up tremendously,” said Rowland-Goldsmith.

The Student Scientific Society had been working since late August to bring the children to Chapman, said Brown. He chose to start the project because of his own experience with homelessness between the ages of 4 and 7.

“[Organizing] it was totally cool because I had been in their shoes before and I wanted to help them,” said Brown.

Brown said his family did not always have a stable home after his father, who was the primary income provider, died.

Brown’s mother, an immigrant from Thailand, did not speak English well and had trouble getting a job before she opened a Thai gift store. Brown’s family overcame being homeless with the success of his mother’s business.

According to Roxanne Miller, assistant professor of education, it is important to expose all young children to science.

“All students need to realize that science is a daily part of their life in this century and rather than taking a back seat and being an observer, that they can be a participant,” said Miller.

In addition to making silly putty and watching bottles of Coke explode, the children got to watch bananas and flowers freeze in liquid nitrogen. Chapman students also demonstrated how carbon dioxide is created when vinegar and baking soda are mixed. The two ingredients were put in a water bottle and the carbon dioxide that was created inflated a balloon stretched over the bottle’s mouth.

Valle said that bringing the children onto Chapman’s campus for the demonstrations exposed them to something they don’t get in their everyday lives.

“It’s not saying [to the children], ‘You have to go to Chapman,’ or ‘You have to go to college.’ The focus is getting them onto a college campus,” said Valle. “I hope it opened their eyes a little bit more to the opportunities they have in life.”


Contact this reporter: daniel.langhorne@thepantheronline.com