Pearl Subramanian EDISON — Following in the spirit of her town’s namesake, a local Girl Scout has helped spark a love of science in students at FDR Preschool in the same town.
When Pearl Subramanian was striving to attain a Girl Scout Gold Award last year, she decided to combine two things that she loved most to meet the requirements for the award, one of which was to make an impact within the community.
“I really like science and working with children. That’s why I decided to go to the preschool,” the 17-year-old junior at J.P. Stevens High School said.
Her idea of volunteering to conduct science experiments with students at the FDR Preschool gained the endorsement of administrators in Edison Township Public Schools. They placed her in teacher Stephanie Geraci’s classroom.
“It was very moving and touching, and I really felt so inspired by helping the kids,” Pearl said. “I really had a great time being with them because they were very enthusiastic, and they would never want to miss a day when I was supposed to come and do an experiment with them.”
Pearl began developing and implementing science experiments with Geraci and her students in October 2012. The lessons continued until Pearl completed the required 80 hours and received her Girl Scout Gold Award this past October.
“Ms. Geraci helped me a lot and was very encouraging,” Pearl said. “Whatever standards the common core curriculum had for each week, I would come up with a science experiment or activity that complemented the theme of the week. They really loved it.”
Geraci loved it, too.
“Pearl worked diligently to create objectives and lesson plans for each of her experiments,” she said. “She had a natural ability to capture the attention of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. Pearl inspired a love for science and the scientific process in my preschool students.”
One popular experiment was an erupting volcano created by combining Mentos candies and soda.
Another experiment involved flowers. The children were asked to predict the outcome of the experiment, and drew pictures to illustrate their thoughts.
“In the flower experiment, we made a slight cut down the stem of the flower — as to split the stem into two parts — and each end of the stem was placed in a different cup,” Pearl said.
“Each cup was filled with water and a different food coloring. The flower was left overnight. And the next day, half of the petals had turned red; and the other half, orange. The experiment was done to show how nutrients and water reach the flower petals and travel through the plant. The students had originally thought the flower would grow bigger overnight, not turn two different colors.”
Pearl said she wants to be a pediatrician, specializing in children with autism and autism research.
“I was inspired to one summer when I volunteered at the You and Me School on Oak Tree Road,” Pearl said. “I was only there for one week, but it moved me so much that I really want to help them.”
Even through Pearl’s tenure at FDR Preschool has ended, her volunteer efforts continue. This past summer, she interned at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. She worked in an oncology lab, conducting research on gene expression in adrenocortical cancer.