From left, Dominic Willams, 10, Jacques Van Rinsvelt, 10, and Rebecca Giles, 9, are ready to race their PET rocket cars from House of Science. Photo: JOHN BORREN
From left, Dominic Willams, 10, Jacques Van Rinsvelt, 10, and Rebecca Giles, 9, are ready to race their PET rocket cars from House of Science. Photo: JOHN BORREN
Oropi School pupil Fletcher Ross, 10, uses a mini-rocket from the House of Science. It may not have been Optimus Prime, but rockets and robots were on the agenda at Oropi School last week, thanks to a couple of classroom resource kits from House of Science.
The Sulphur Point organisationhas spent 14 months building a library of science resources that 45 schools across the region borrow for a week at a time.
Oropi School Year 3/4 teacher Cameron McKinnon says programmable bee-shaped robots and PET rockets are a great hit with the kids.
"They excite kids to jump into learning about science almost without knowing that they're learning about science," he says.
"The kids were drawing tracks on the ground or using a mat which had a track on it and they had to basically learn the very first level of computer programming in order to send this little bee around the track.
House of Science director Chris Duggan says local science-based businesses sponsor the kits, which contain all the equipment and tools necessary to conduct a science experiment.
"Zespri, they sponsor a food science kit and a plant kit, and Blue labs sponsor an acids and bases kit and a sensory kit."
The kits are usually related to the industry the sponsor company works in.
"Industries are really keen to invest in those resources because it's, you know, investing in the local community and ultimately helping them in the long run, because it will help the local economy."
Chris says they started with four or five kits a year ago and now they have about 25.
"[Schools] pay a small membership fee then we deliver these boxes to those schools. They book them online, we deliver them, we pick them up again," she says.
"We top them up, check them and clean them and get them all ready to go out again. Some of them go out every week to a different school, they're so popular."
Oropi School pupil Fletcher Ross, 10, uses a mini-rocket from the House of Science. Photo: JOHN BORREN
House of Science has just put together an air quality kit, sponsored by the regional council.
"Kids will put a bit of calico around the exhaust pipe of a car, or a bus or a truck and they will let the vehicle run for five minutes then weigh the amount of deposits that have landed on that bit of calico, so there's some scales in there as well," Chris says.
She says local businesses are very supportive, but the kits are in such high demand that more sponsors are needed.
"Often they [local businesses] like to connect with schools but they don't know how."
Chris says they're excited by how quickly the organisation's offering has caught on. "It would be really nice if this wasn't needed, but as it turns out it's extremely needed and the speed and extent to which the uptake has been has been phenomenal and I'm quite blown away by it."
