High school students are given the opportunity to choose from various extracurricular activities that satisfy their personal interests, that range from the California Scholarship Federation (CSF) to the Cycling Club.
Growing in popularity and recognition, the Science Club has proven to be a success among students interested in the field of science. Students meet every Tuesday after school in the science lab under the supervision of Dan Harris.
In Science Club students are permitted to perform experiments and gain a better understanding of science outside of the typical classroom setting, allowing more one-on-one time with each individual.
Founder of the club and third-year science and Chinese teacher, Dan Harris established the club because several students were spending time in the lab, eager to do experiments.
“Last year, there had been several students hanging out in the science lab after school and just wanting to try experiments and labs; they wanted to know the ins-n-outs of how science works,” Harris said. “So because it basically happening anyway, we figured that we would formalize it into a club.”
The club focuses on understanding how things work and react to each other within the world, leading to some advanced projects and experiments.
Sophomore club member Morgan Miller enjoys the club because it explores her favorite subject.
“Science is my favorite subject, so I thought we would be doing a lot of things that we do in class and I thought it would be a lot of fun,” Miller said. “My favorite project that we did that year is when we launched rockets. I hope to do rockets again this year.”
Harris enjoyed teaching his students about composition, which included burning different substances to observe their changes. This experiment was one of his favorite club meetings.
“My favorite project we’ve done so far was burning things,” Harris said. “More specifically, we did a thing about composition in general and different substances and what rates they burn at. It always looks really cool when we turn the lights all the way down and you can see inside large flasks; it burns really quick but runs out of oxygen right away and it just makes this cool sound. So, it’s just really exciting to watch.”
Club members are encouraged to come up with their own ideas for projects and share whatever they have in mind with the rest of the club. Second year member Zach Smith looks forward to future activities.
“I joined Science Club because Mr. {Dan} Harris is a really fun teacher, and I love science; it’s my favorite subject,” Smith said. “My favorite memory of last year was when we dropped water balloons out of the window on people. This year I hope to get a sub woofer, corn starch and water; we can make a non-neutoneian solid. Then whenever we pump bass through a speaker, we will make gel bounce up and down crazily.”
Any students interested in joining Science Club can talk to Dan Harris in room 622. While the students initially meet in the science lab after school on Tuesdays, most of the time the group heads out into the hallways or outside in the north parking lot to work on experiments.
(PODCAST) Science club experiences: Oct. 22, 2013–
For more information on the Science Club read the Feb. 28 article, New club encourages hands-on learning (VIDEO).
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For more features, read the Oct. 18 article, Frank Abagnale, Jr., speaks to Fresno’s Town Hall.
