PLAINSBORO: Students say Super Science me at library

By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — Though schools were out of session last week, children clamored into the Plainsboro Public Library on Tuesday to participate in hands-on science demonstrations and to see the library’s newest addition — a high-quality, permanent microscope.
   Unveiling the “Wentzscope” was the highlight of the daylong Super Science Extravaganza, which included demonstrations of robotics, physics and green technology.
   ”I’m so excited about this,” said library director Jinny Baeckler. “We’ve been trying to get the Wentzscope for years. Not many libraries have them across the country – you usually only see them in science museums.”
   The Wentzscope is “kid-friendly,” Ms. Baeckler said. It is attached to a desk on the library’s third floor, has a large observation lens and has only one fine-tuning knob. Laminated specimens, which the library provides, slide easily under the scope “without all the delicate and fragile parts,” she said. Children may bring in specimens, even live cultures, to examine.
   She had first seen a Wentzscope at the New York Hall of Science.
   ”I thought it was so cool, I had wanted to open the new library with it, but it wasn’t possible because every dime went into construction,” she said. The $5,000 purchase was made possible largely by the fundraising efforts of Women Achieving Triumph in Science, a nonprofit composed of young women in the regional high schools who support fundraising and projects for the advancement of women in science careers.
   ”Jinny had asked us if we could help (last September), and the girls didn’t have a project then, so we said, ‘Sure, let’s get together and do this for the library,’” said WATS leader Mary Jo Egbert.
   The group had two major donors and raised about $600 on its own by reaching out to the community. Library Trustee Ed Moeller gave a personal donation of $1,000 to support Ms. Baeckler, a longtime friend. “To be a trustee, you have to love the library, and I do, and everyone loves Jinny,” he said.
   The Integra Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Plainsboro-based Integra LifeSciences Corporation, contributed $1,000. Gianna Sabella, executive director of the foundation, said the board had approved the grant to support a local effort to further children’s interest in science.
   Members of WATS were showing the children how to use the microscope and giving a demo of how cotton candy is made.
   ”We want to make science interesting for kids,” said Ira Bhatnagar, a High School South junior and vice president of communication for WATS.
   In another room of the library, children were gathered to watch a demo of a hydrogen-powered car. Michael and Rose Soskind, who are High School South students and library volunteers, gave an explanation of green technologies, featuring hydrogen and solar power, along with their model.
   ”Did you know there’s only about 300 hydrogen-powered cars in the U.S.?” asked Rose.
   Though sunlight was scarce on Tuesday afternoon, Michael and Rose showed how solar panels store watts of energy, both with the natural light and by shining a flashlight on it. They also showed the accumulation of hydrogen gas in a balloon attached to the moving car.
   Other activities of the day included robotics demonstrations from the FIRST Lego League champions of Plainsboro, and a performance of “Hot and Cold” from the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia. With demonstrations of shattering a rubber ball and shrinking metal, performers showed how temperature affects matter.