Experiments in learning

During a recent visit to James W. Hennigan Elementary School in Jamaica Plain for a science fair, Carlos Brambila recalled the lasting impact a similar fair had on him. When he was in grade school in California, a scientist from a local university came to his school to show the students how smoking affects the body.

“It was an eye-opener,” Brambila said. “After that experience, I was always asking why things happen and how they work. I realized how science could really be applied in the real world.”

Now a senior bioengineering major at San Diego State University (SDSU), Brambila is conducting research in the lab of David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University, over the summer. He jumped at the chance to participate in science demonstrations at the Hennigan.

“I remember how strongly that can impact someone’s life, because it did for me. That’s when I started to question why things are they way they are, and why things happen. If it weren’t for those early experiences, I don’t know if I would think the way I do now.”

The three days of science demonstrations and experiments, reaching more than 400 students in grades three through five, were coordinated through the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). The REU program used the science fair at the Hennigan as an opportunity for undergrads working in Harvard labs to experience a day in the Boston Public Schools and, in the process, to provide a unique learning opportunity for local kids.

Read the entire article in the Harvard Gazette

Students at Hennigan Elementary School in Jamaica Plain participated in three days of science demonstrations and experiments coordinated through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The science fair was an opportunity for undergrad interns to experience a day in public schools and, in the process, provide a unique learning opportunity for local children. (Photo by Jon Chase, Harvard Staff Photographer)