Students learn about areas of science

Staff photo by Anna Dolianitis

Students at Hammond Hill Elementary School got a break from their typical classroom lessons and gained some hands-on science education Friday at the schoolwide Science Day.

Professionals from various areas of the local science community visited with the students and shared their expertise with them.

A favorite among the students was visitor Sean Poppy from the Savannah River Ecology Lab, who brought critters to show the students. Among them was the spotted salamander, South Carolina's state amphibian, which can be found in North Augusta during February and March.

"They spend most of their life underground," said Poppy. "They're all around, and we never, ever see them."

He also showed a box turtle, which camouflages itself well and also defends itself by pulling its body into its shell. It also eats both plants and animals, which the students knew means it is called an "omnivore."

The students were surprised to learn that if a box turtle eats a poisonous mushroom, the turtle will be poisonous for a week or two until it metabolizes the mushroom.

Students from Danielle Winburn's third-grade class learned the difference between items that can be recycled in North Augusta and items that cannot. The students took turns rifling through a pile of discarded items and learned that items like clear, round or green glass could be recycled, but an old cell phone cannot.

The classes also talked about possible ways they could recycle items twice. A suggestion that they came up with was reusing a to-go cup for a few days and then recycling it.

Students in Jenny Williams' second-grade class listened intently as respiratory therapist Ashley Strickland explained the responsibilities of her job as a respiratory therapist.

The students were excited to have a chance to touch a replica of human lungs and learn more about respiratory therapy, but when they learned that Strickland attended two different schools and had to take classes in science, biology and math so that she could understand and give the proper medications, only a few thought they might pursue that profession.

Sam McDuffie from the National Wild Turkey Federation explained the different types of calls that turkeys making, telling the students that "gobble, gobble" isn't what they really sound like.

McDuffie told them that 28 different calls exist and demonstrated them to the class. Female and male turkeys make different sounds, he said, including a purr, a cluck and sometimes a purr and cluck together.

"When baby turkeys aren't listening to the mom turkeys, they raise their voices at the baby turkeys," he said. "That's when the turkeys know that mama means business."

Students also had a chance to learn about weather tracking equipment from a television weather reporter, as well as water, magic and other topics from professionals who shared their work with the classes on Friday.

Contact Anna Dolianitis at adolianitis@aikenstandard.com.