The Arizona Science Center’s Science on Wheels mobile unit visited the Camp Verde Community Library on August 31, for an evening of STEM activities, giveaways and more.
CVCL said the casual, outdoor-style event was designed to fit family schedules.
Once the event tables were set up, eager families began exploring the Science Center’s offerings, which included free school supplies, books and a variety of activities.
“All of the supplies we’re giving away are focused on going back to school, but the main focus for this particular program is to help families after COVID-19 who are trying to bounce back from it,” Educator and Assistant Manager. Vanessa Gutierrez told Science on Wheels.
Activities included a “shape builder” where children could create their own 2D and 3D shapes and a planetary density interactive which used cups filled with loose change to represent the different weights of the planets in our solar system.
Perhaps the most exciting activity for children and parents was the space postcards.
“This particular activity is really cool,” Gutierrez said. “We are in partnership with Blue Origin [Aerospace Company]. Families and kids can write their names and addresses and draw a little picture on the back, and we’ll send it to the next thing that goes into outer space. Once we get it, we’ll stamp it with an ‘I’ve been to outer space’ stamp and send it to them.”
Gutierrez said the mobile unit often travels to underserved communities and offers a variety of programs in addition to Science on Wheels, such as the Native Health program.
“With Native Health, we’re working with them to provide virtual kits of supplies that they can make at home,” she said.
An example of a virtual kit project is a “scribble-bot”, which is made by placing a pool cue and marker on an electric toothbrush.
“It’s basically an oversized pen,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez described additional outreach programs that offer opportunities to learn about different cultural traditions, such as working with natural dyes.
“We go to different kinds of cultural colors of Latin America, we go to Peru, to Colombia,” she said. “We do a second part where we focus on local plants and flowers that are native here and take a cloth and beat them to make a print.”
“It’s really fun and a great way to get some anger out,” she laughed.
Gutierrez described what the children she works with have in common.
“They are grateful,” she said. “They don’t want to take too many supplies because they don’t want to take them to someone in need.”
Gutierrez said the Science Center is always trying to reach out to children, parents, libraries and resource centers.
“We always wonder if there is a shortage in the community; we don’t want to see it, we want to complete it,” she said. “Reaching out to us as much as reaching out to them is really important.”
While the Science Center receives funding from a variety of corporations such as Boeing, Ford Motor Company and Microsoft-Intel, Gutierrez said the center also accepts donations.
For Science on Wheels, the center receives funding from AZ OnTrack, a state-funded initiative that was created to overcome the learning loss that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic.
“With this particular program and funding with AZ OnTrack, we’ve been able to go to every county, which is amazing,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve been to some, a little more than others, but our real push is for rural communities to try to get the word out there.”
