Shelley fourth-graders get hands-on with science

SHELLEY — Everyone wishes they were a fourth-grader at Riverview Elementary today.

Every year, Sharlene Jolley, a Shelley local and chemistry teacher at the Idaho State University Idaho Falls Campus, hosts a science expo for Shelley’s fourth-graders. On Thursday, March 17, Jolley, her students and parent volunteers taught the fourth-graders at Riverview Elementary how much fun science can be.

“We did some of the experiments through the year with the fourth grade. Then this is just a big science expo that they come and the key is they get to touch everything,” Jolley told Community Pioneer.

The Riverview gym was filled with interactive stations and activities where kids were able to get hands-on to learn about everything from static electricity and magnetism to light refraction and air pressure and much more.

“My particular favorite — we have an acid in one column and a base in the other column and the color (of the liquid inside different test tubes) will change depending on whether it’s an acid or a base. So they can just go back and forth and change the colors,” Jolley said.

Riverview fourth-grader Maddie Crapo said one of her favorite stations was one that demonstrated engineering principles with different balls that expand, contract and change shape.

“I just like seeing how they expand and then come back,” Maddie said.

Maddie’s mom, Cammie Crapo, was one of the parent volunteers at the science expo.

“I am not a science mom at all,” Cammie said. “So I’ve learned a lot of new things standing here today.”

Jolley said it is because of parent volunteers like Cammie that she is able to do the science expo every year.

In previous years, Jolley would host the expo at the ISU Idaho Falls campus where upwards of 900 fourth and fifth-graders would attend. However, since new regulations on large gatherings went into place over the last couple years, Jolley decided to move the expo to Shelley.

“I’ve been doing this probably for 20 years … and it’s just grown into this,” she said.

To try and offer similar experiences to more kids in the community, Jolley recently started working with the Shelley Supporters of the Arts.

“We’re going to start something–at least in Shelley–so people can contact me and we can do more of this. Not necessarily at the school level but anybody could contact us,” Jolley said.