Science in a Bag students distribute science kits to young children.

Photo by Natalie Baram

Tyler Suh ‘27

REPORTER

The Science in a Bag (SIB) club paves the way for young students to experience the wonders of STEM through engaging, hands-on activities. Led by inspired High School students, the club focuses on making science fun and approachable for elementary and middle school students. By designing creative experiments and engaging demonstrations, SIB aims to inspire a lifelong interest in science and engineering.

SIB was created to provide younger students with “science bags,” which are science kits containing material for a variety of interactive experiments. The kits are designed to be both educational and engaging, allowing young students to explore scientific concepts while getting hands-on experience. The process of making the bags begins with club members brainstorming and testing experiments that will instill curiosity in students and educate them of fundamental scientific principles. After choosing the experiment, the club packages the materials into individual bags and distributes them to local schools.

During the 2022-2023 school year, SIB chose the Cartesian diver and red cabbage indicator experiments. In the Cartesian diver experiment, students applied pressure to a water bottle containing water and an object to learn the concepts of buoyancy and pressure. Similarly, students used red cabbage juice to test the acidity of various substances, exploring the topics of acids and bases. After distributing the bags to the Pocopson Elementary, Unionville Elementary, and Chadds Ford Elementary schools, members of the club instructed teachers on how to conduct the experiments, answering the teachers’ questions and resolving any issues. To emphasize the cooperative nature of the STEM field, SIB also organized a team challenge during this year in which students worked to build the tallest marshmallow toothpick tower, combining engineering skills with creativity and problem solving.

Members of the club are inspired to educate the younger generation due to their personal values and experiences. For example, Ethan Ruslim states, “I joined SIB because of my experience participating in the Science Explorers program in elementary school which exposed me to hands-on science. I wanted to give other kids the same fulfilling experience that I had when I was young.” Similarly, Shawn Fan discusses that SIB allows him to “contribute to the science community and influence the next generation of scientists.”

Ultimately, SIB’s efforts make science more accessible to all students. By packaging captivating and interactive experiments into easy-to-use kits, members simplify complex topics while sparking curiosity and nurturing a love for science from an early age.