<\/p>\n
Schoolchildren explored the physics of light Friday at the Mancos Public Library, creating rainbows with garden hoses and prisms.<\/p>\n
The Mancos Public Library started the once-a-month program on Fridays for kids from grades kindergarten through eighth grade in September. Since then it has received $4,500 in grant funding from Empire Electric, BP and Kinder Morgan to continue the program, said Kathy Merrill, a mathematician and library board member who helped organized the program.<\/p>\n
Retired engineer and scientist Bob Wilson, who led the lesson on light Friday, helped write science education into the library\u2019s strategic plan about three years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been following what\u2019s happened with science education in the country for a while,\u201d he said. \u201cOur students don\u2019t seem to perform very well compared to the rest of world. I saw this as way to help to contribute to a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson said he hopes the program will encourage students to pursue high-paying and challenging careers in math and science.<\/p>\n
So far, the program has explored the phases of the moon and how animals adapt to cold weather and fire.<\/p>\n
Merrill and Wilson visited the Durango Discovery Museum and two other hands-on museums in the region to learn how to present science in a way that would get students excited about pursuing it.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the program attracted about 30 kids to the morning session and about 10 to the afternoon session.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll ages really had fun playing the prisms,\u201d Merrill said.<\/p>\n
The library hosts two sessions on the selected Fridays \u2013 one in the morning for children in kindergarten through third grade, and one in the afternoon for older kids.<\/p>\n
The sessions always coincide with a day off from school. The library already has tentatively scheduled a chemistry lesson in January, a lesson on snow in February and a lesson on electricity in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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