Trisha Maxey
Photographer
The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences hosted its annual Science Carnival on Oct. 18 in Pohl Gym.
More than 1,100 third and fourth graders from communities across northeast Mississippi were expected to take part in the fun. During the event, students from MSMS taught hands-on science experiments at eight stations. The experiments covered areas such as chemistry, biology and physics.
Zach Hodge, a senior at MSMS, has looked forward to the Science Carnival every year that he’s attended the school.
“It’s a lot of fun, presenting a lot of the stuff that we learn to the little kids. Most of the people that do present, present in subjects that we really enjoy,” Hodge said.
Hodge’s partner at the carnival, Ryan Hopson, was surprised at the level of enthusiasm from children this year.
“The kids are asking a lot of good questions,” Hopson said.
Dr. Bill Odom coordinated the event with Amber Moore. Odom is a member on the science faculty at MSMS. He takes pride in having a system where everyone gets to learn.
“This gives the MSMS students a perspective on education and dealing with youngsters, you know, what environment is a good environment to learn,” said Odom. “I like this tiered learning thing. The science faculty has spent time training our students on how to deal with the stuff and the topic, and so we did that for a couple of days and they are good to go. So, now they are the ones that are going to be interacting with the little kids,” Odom said.
Veterinary students from Mississippi State University brought dogs to the carnival for the first-ever veterinary science station. In this particular station, the kids were shown various X-rays and taught how to approach dogs in a safe way. The students from MSU want the kids to feel safe when interacting with dogs.