ETHOS Science Center

On Tuesday the lower elementary classes traveled to Elkhart where they spent the morning at ETHOS Science Center. The name stands for Encouraging Technology and Hands-On Science, a very appropriate name for the students’ visit!

Each student participated in three different activities including an introduction to several of the animals at the center, an exhibit scavenger hunt, and a visit to the star lab. The center’s animal wrangler took the bearded dragons and the ball python from their tanks to give the students a close up view which included being able to touch the animal.

During the exhibit scavenger hunt the students moved through the exhibits in pairs and small groups doing activities and marking them off of their lists.  In the star lab the students sat inside an inflatable dome and learned about stars and constellations.

On our return to school the students in Room 106 wrote about their field trip. Some first year student comments included:

• “Today we went to ETHOS Science Center and we learned about the stars.”
• “We learned about holograms. I love holograms.”     
• “We learned about the stars and the bearded dragon. My favorite was the Earth spinning on air.”
• Second year students wrote:
• “What I liked best was holding the bearded dragon and exploring all of the science stuff.”
• “We went on a field trip to ETHOS Science Center. My favorite thing was the star lab. I liked the star lab because we saw constellations. I saw the Big Dipper.”
• “I did electricity experiments. I got to pet a bearded dragon and a ball python. Its name was B.P. It was fun.
• Third year students also enjoyed the field trip and wrote about their favorite activities.
• “One of my favorite things to was the exhibits. I liked the hologram exhibit. It had a whole bunch of holograms.”
• “Today we went to ETHOS Science Center. In the star lab I learned that the North Star never moves.  We also did a science hunt. We got to go in the hologram room. Pictures looked like they were coming out of their frames.”
• “I want to go back to ETHOS.”

I am positive that all of the students and teachers would agree!