Rye Neck Boards the Mobile Discovery Center

Thanks to the National Science Center and the United States Army, the Mobile Discovery Center paid a visit to F.E. Bellows School last month. Parked in Mamaroneck’s Barry Avenue lot, the educational 18-wheeler trailer awed the elementary school children with all sorts of science demonstrations.

“Our payment is that you all stay in school and stay away from drugs,” announced Education Services Specialist Rich Cadwell to all the third, fourth and fifth graders on board.

The Mobile Discovery Center ran 50-minute hands-on demonstrations all day long, so every class in the school spent a period inside. “I think that this was an opportunity for children to see science in action in another setting,” said Principal Marge Longabucco. “They enjoyed the on-site field trip, and the presenters were very impressed with our students’ knowledge base.”

Each class observed slideshows and participated in interactive experiments. Topics ranged from current electricity and wireless induction to sound and brain exercises. It’s not every day kids get to see such props as a plasma ball, a sound machine, a vandergraph generator and a tessler coil in action.

– Janice Llanes Fabry