A sticky situation

Paul Clinton

A second-grade class at Ralph Hawes Elementary School worked on a

familiar Huntington Beach problem -- cleaning up the beaches.

Taking their science lesson to a new level, children dabbed up oil

with cotton balls, hay and other items to learn how to accomplish the

task.

Divided into three tables, the children dipped the items into an

aluminum pan filled with water and oil.

“Try to soak up the oil spill,” said Cynda Jennings, the teacher.

“Clean up the oil.”

The experiment started with the children filling out green data sheets

asking them what they expected to find. They were then given a piece of

nylon, cotton ball, hay, a cup of sand, a feather and a piece of fur.

The children dipped the feather and fur in to find out how a bird or

other animal might be affected by a spill.

Jennings asked one table how they thought a bird might respond if

stuck in oil.

“It would die,” said 8-year-old Zack Annala. “It’s sticky.”

Cody Teachman, 8, grabbed a handful of sand, promising to dump the

entire cup into the water.

“Take a little pinch of it and put it in there,” cautioned 8-year-old

Lorraine Moreland.

The project was one of many lesson pinned to Earth Day, which is

celebrated on April 22. The idea was to give the children a hands-on

lesson about the importance of protecting the environment, Jennings said.

Once they finished using the various items to soak up the oil, the

children marked their results in yellow sheets that asked how each

substance performed in its cleanup duties.

The children drew happy faces or sad faces in boxes to indicate their

opinion of the item.

They also used phrases like “a lot” or “only a little.”

Jennings said the hands-on science lesson would help the children

learn about spills more than if they had just read about them in a book.

“This is a way for them to be more involved,” Jennings said. “It

really brings it home.”

* PAUL CLINTON is a reporter with Times Community News. He covers City

Hall and education. He may be reached at (714) 965-7173 or by e-mail ato7 paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .