Science And The Mayor Come To Tulsa Public Schools

Chris Howell and Dee Duren NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor joined DuPont and The U.S. Conference of Mayors in bringing the Science in the School Day program to over 200 fourth-and fifth-graders at four area schools.  School children at Sam Houston, William Penn, Walt Whitman and Marian Anderson Elementary Schools participated in the science program.

Teachers and city representatives joined the students as they built "puff mobiles" using everyday materials like drinking straws, lifesavers, paper, scotch-tape and paperclips. 

Matthew Hedrick, a student at Houston Elementary, said making a car was harder than it looked.

"I'm learning a lot, it's just not going so well," he said with a laugh. "It's really difficult - I'm telling you, it is."

Mathew was one of the morning class of students at Houston and Whitman Elementary schools that worked side-by-side with Dupont field engineers Marissa Morphis, Nathan Knochel and Jana Chambers. 

Morphis jump started the event with a fun, hands-on project exploring basic engineering principles.  Students applied the techniques learned from engineers to conduct the "puff mobile" science experiment, which was derived from the popular children's television show ZOOM. 

"The DuPont and the U.S. Conference of Mayor's program, Science in the School Day, may alter the path of some children, sparking an interest and an eagerness to study science and math," Mayor Taylor said.

"In our economy in Oklahoma, math, science and engineering jobs are some of the most important to our future," she said. The fields are "stem jobs" that can also help America maintain its competitiveness in the global economy, Taylor said.

Science in the School Day is a part of DuPont and the USCM's Cities United for Science Progress partnership.