THE SCIENCE OF HAVING FUN ENGINEERS' SHOW A HIT WITH KIDS.

Byline: Brandon Lowrey

Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS -- Hundreds of schoolchildren played hooky from classroom routine Tuesday to tinker with crackling electrical gadgets and watch a laser light show put on by local rocket scientists.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engineers took some time off work to dazzle the students with simple but tricky experiments designed to foster an interest in the sciences.

The aerospace giant's ninth annual Science Expo, held at its Woodland Hills plant, is always a crowd pleaser.

"(The kids) get so excited about the things we do," said Paul Shiroma, an environment, health and safety manager. "Wow! We should feel like that, too."

One table displayed delicately balanced magnets. On another, a beaker of red cabbage juice turned from purple to blue as kids added baking soda to change the pH balance.

A very popular table held a static-electricity device capped with a metallic orb. As students held onto the metal ball, the ends of their hair began to float up into the air. And afterward, the students ran around trying to give each other mild shocks.

"Your hair goes up, and I got shocked 10 times," said 10-year-old Anelle Bolanos, a fifth-grader at Fullbright Elementary School.

"It feels ticklish," said Jose Godoy, another Fullbright fifth-grader. "It doesn't hurt that much when they shock you."

More than 1,000 students are expected to see the science exposition through Thursday. The students are coming from public and private schools in Los Angeles and Ventura counties selected by lottery because demand exceeds space, said Debra Bergman, a Rocketdyne staffer who organized the event.

"The mood when we're teaching science is completely changed after this," said Fullbright teacher Manny Banuelos. "Kids are learning about science in a stress-free environment."

Students were brought outside in small groups to watch engineer Hadi Darejeh play with liquid nitrogen.

Darejeh wore a plastic shield over his face and gloves on his hands as he dunked various objects into a freezing tank -- crackers, balloons, bananas and lettuce leaves.

Each emerged brittle, and some shattered, prompting gleeful cackles from the kids as Darejeh explained the elementary physics of hot and cold.

"What's your favorite subject?" Darejeh asked.

Shouts erupted from the group of children: "Science!"

Darejeh grinned at the kids.

"You're just saying that to make me happy."

brandon.lowrey(at)dailynews.com

818-713-3699

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3 photos

Photo:

(1) Fullbright Elementary School fifth-graders, from left, Makayla Cain, Vanessa Martinez, and Joyce Sanchez touch a plasma globe Tuesday during a three-day science exposition at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's plant in Woodland Hills.

(2) Abraham Figueroa, 10, a fifth-grader at Fullbright Elementary School in Canoga Park, tries to pull magnets apart Tuesday during a science celebration in Woodland Hills.

(3) Fullbright Elementary School fifth-grader Jennifer Gonzalez, 11, participates in an experiment on static electricity Tuesday -- and her hair stands on end.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer