Mobile ag lab visits Buffalo
BUFFALO TWP — Students at Buffalo Elementary School got a chance to leave the school building and participate in hands-on and fun experiments.
The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Mobile Agriculture Education Science Lab was parked outside the school from Monday to Friday.
“It’s been well received by the students and teachers,” said Principal Steve Poleski.
He said a fifth grade science teacher heard about the lab at a conference over the summer. The teacher got the school’s parent teacher organization to sponsor the lab.
Poleski said that all 520 students at the school got a chance to participate in an experiment. He said he would like the lab to return sometime.
Alayne Jacobs, a Farm Bureau teacher who taught the lessons in the lab, said it offers an opportunity for active learning.
“The kids don’t get to do hands-on experiments in the classroom as much,” Jacobs said.
All of the lessons and experiments had a connection to agriculture. Experiments throughout the week included using milk to make glue, making crayons out of soybeans and comparing them to petroleum-based commercial crayons, and testing the water capacity of different soils.
On Friday morning, teacher John Gaillot’s fourth grade class participated in a hand washing experiment.
“The kids are really excited,” Gaillot said.
The students put a lotion on their hands that simulated germs. The lotion showed up white under black light. They then would use one of four methods to clean their hands — using a moist towelette, using hand sanitizer, using water, and using soap and water.
The experiment showed that using soap and water was the best way to clean hands. The sanitizer killed germs, but left dead germs on the hands. Water was the third best method and the wet wipe was the fourth best.
Jacobs said the experiment is meant to show the importance of cleanliness, particularly when it eating food with your hands. She also explained to the students the importance of washing their fingers.
Student Luke Boylan found the lotion and the black light his favorite part of the experiment.
“Seeing all the germs on our hands,” Luke said.
He was assigned to use the hand sanitizer during the experiment. However, he knew it would not be the best method.
“I thought soap and water was going to be the best,” Luke added.
Student Max Kruse liked exploring how effective the different hand washing methods worked.
“Learning about ways to clean your hands,” Maxsaid.
He said he likely was going to tell his parents about the hand washing experiment when he got home.
