By
Anita Srikameswaran and Tim Betler
More than 200 young summer campers
from local chapters of the
YMCA and
YWCA got to touch bones, peer through
microscopes, experience angular momentum by spinning around on a stool and much
more at “Sciencepalooza!,” an event on Friday that was arranged by
Pitt Science Outreach, part of
the university’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Judy Cameron, Pitt neuroscientist
and CTSI’s director of science outreach, said studies have shown children
who have positive experiences with science between fourth and sixth grade are
more likely to continue taking science classes in high school and beyond, and
have a better understanding of scientific concepts as adults.
Besides, “this event is as much
fun for the scientists who put it together as it is for the kids,” she said.
“We love watching them ask and answer questions, make discoveries, and enjoy
learning.”
Kids ages 6 to 14 from the
Hazelwood YMCA, the Thelma Lovette YMCA, the Homewood-Brushton YWCA, the
Collegiate YMCA, and the Wilmerding YMCA summer camp took part in the day-long
event. In 2012, the Pitt Science Outreach Program reached more than 10,000
people in the region.