Educators Cultivate Scientists at Ruby Tucker Family Center

Alexandria’s Ruby Tucker Family Center will host some budding young scientists this summer through a program put together by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.

The center is one of five community sites selected to host free science education classes for 2^nd through 6^th graders through GlaxoSmithKline’s Science in the Summer program in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science administers the program.

The program encourages elementary students to learn through fun hands-on chemistry activities. Children enrolled in the program will wear safety glasses, watch crystals grow, make raisins and popcorns "dance" and more.

Classes will be offered July 12 and 13 at the Ruby Tucker Family Center.

Hands-on, inquiry-based activities are an effective way for young people to learn science, said Shirley Malcom, head of Education and Human Resources at AAAS.

"When students are physically engaged in learning, not just passively listening to lectures, their minds are engaged, too, and learning is enhanced," Malcom said. "Inquiry-based learning is especially important over the summer when many students, especially those in low-income families with fewer enrichment opportunities, lose ground academically."

Trained science teachers will direct classes at the family center of Alexandria as well as the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, the Laurel Historical Society and Museum, 13 D.C. Library System locations, and one of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.

Parent or guardians must visit a participating site to complete and sign a registration form for students interested in the latest Science in the Summer program.

The Science in the Summer program began in 1986 in the greater Philadelphia area, where it is now in its 26^th year.