WEST BETHESDA, Maryland -- The Kids into Discovering Science (KIDS) team from Accokeek, Maryland, is handing out packets of Old Bay Seasoning to anyone who stopped to take a picture in their photo booth at the 15th International Human-Powered Submarine Races at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division in West Bethesda, Maryland. The races
“The kids agreed to do a photo booth to draw people in and be able to talk to them about their submarine, some pieces that they’ve made themselves. We also made a ‘discovery cart’ to display our work,” said Katharine Vincent, one of the KIDS sponsors.
The photo booth included a wavy background and hand-made props to hold up. The team also had what they called an electrical workshop on one of the tables under their tent to show off what their group of high school students designed for the electric steering mechanism for the submarine.
KIDS is a non-profit, interactive organization that hopes to makes learning about and designing things in science and engineering fun. The program is for all age groups between kindergarten and high school. It started out as four families interested in building a submarine for different races, but when they tested one of their subs in a local pool, interest grew so much that they went on to create the non-profit.
“We put an emphasis on hands-on learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and project management for K-12 kids,” said Paola Addamiano-Carts, one of founders of the organization.
The work this year was divided up by systems, not age, and whoever was interested got to work on that system alongside an engineer mentor.
“The kids did all the work. It’s learning by doing,” Vincent said.
Liam Vincent was one of the kids at the local pool the day the group was testing the submarine and has been involved ever since, almost 10 years. He is going to be a junior in high school in the fall and is a project manager for KIDS.
“It’s my job to make sure that everybody is involved, that everyone has a role and that we’re targeting their interests,” he said.
For this group, it is not uncommon for the kids to be involved for years at a time. One of their surface swimmers, Sophia, has watched her sisters grow up and out of the group, but she is a year too young to be in the submarine and said she is looking forward to doing it next year.
To learn more about this organization, click here: http://www.kidsinscience.org/.
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