We Science Body 2015-16 [Late Post] SUMMARY!!

We Science Body of 2015-2016

WE offers

Enrichment towards

Stem education,

Cool experiments,

Innovative ideas,

Events/Outreaches,

New friends,

Capturing memories, &

Exciting experiences.

Technically, WE Science Never had a specific meaning. This was just something I made up in the beginning of the year that I thought really summed up everything we are. And to show you what WE Science 2015-16 was made of, I'll bombard you with all of our memories.

Throughout the year, we attended Friday meetings to essentially

create a bunch of a science experiments (and a bunch of laughter while we were at it),

make FUN out of those science experiments,

be amazed by our creations,

listen to our awesome president Lisa Romero

and most importantly create bonds with the people we worked with.

And throughout all of these meetings, we found ourselves at our traditional Outreaches, presenting these experiments to the elementary schools that most of us had origins from. 

As our second year in portables, we did everything we could to find the space to get ready for these Outreaches, Yes, we experienced many difficulties. Maybe our time limits and overall preparation never went smoothly, but that's science. You make do with what you have and you create that reaction. In this case, that reaction we anticipated for was the faces of the children we met. 

But hey, we caught their attention. WE especially got their attention when we got them stuck in our gooey mess

My favorite part was giving them the before and afters:

WAIT FOR IT ...

Ahhhhhhh

Anyways, a good year of experiments and teamwork wasn't all that we had. 

We also had a great MESA team that won medals at MESA Regionals at UCDavis.

Here we have our Speak Out first place winners Brian Nguyen, Zain Alam, and Ruhiyah Pareja, and our Solo Math second place winner Cecilia Chak.

And you can't forget our great Robotics PiE team that put together their robot of the year and got 5th place at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

And that's about what our year was made of. As this club continues to grow, I'm sure we'll really spread what WE Science really means. (When I first joined, they told me it didn't really have a meaning and that it was up to us to decide.) So as this school's biggest science club with branches of our amazing MESA and PiE teams, I draw this overdue little blog post to a close.

AS A NEW YEAR AWAITS!

Antici...pation.

It's 7:20 p.m. on a Tuesday night. Going about the business of cameras and posters in anticipation for WE's First Outreach at Stewart Elementary has seriously got me pumped.

B-Tran's POV. 

Creativity should be at an all-time high!

WE's got six experiments going on tomorrow at Stewart Elementary. At the same time! Yeah! Science. 

Shameless self-promoting on WE Sponsor Ms. Olano's board. Always.

Fascinated by bubbles/the blue Powerpuff Girl? Try out the Bouncing Bubbles station headed by Assistant PiE Lead Michael! Please don't drink the soap. 

You have a lemon tree in your backyard? Fantastic. Create a sour source of power over at the Lemon-Powered Battery group led by MESA Lead Thomas! The key? "They need to be really juicy." - Thomas J.

Finding yourself a little out of breath reading too hard? First, consult a doctor, and second, head on over to the Homemade Lung station led by the wonderful Vivanie! (But seriously, call 911.) 

Oh, man. You say your car battery's dead because you somehow left every single light on for a month? Wow. WE can't really help, sorry, BUT we have the Balloon-Powered Car station headed by Treasurer Neilson! Balloons can help out a gloomy soul... Doesn't help? ... It makes it worse? Oh. 

But who doesn't like strawberries? Am I right? Unless you're allergic, in which case I am sincerely sorry. Allergic or not, there's always the Strawberry DNA group of the evening. Literally see what makes strawberries how they are at this station led by the brilliant Katherine! 

Now, have you ever gone to Build-a-Bear Workshop? That cute little place where you customized your own little teddy-bear to say "I Love You!" against its will every time? Well, this is not it. The Build-a-Light Bulb experiment is being led by Secretary Jessa Dee!  

If you think I've seriously spoiled the following evening, you couldn't be more wrong. Not really. But that's no reason to not go. It's a wonderful, educational, and fun night of scientific shenanigans led by a group of way more high schoolers than you thought would be interested in science. Also, I'll be there. Duh. 

So, if you're reading this, by what is now 8:10 p.m. this same Tuesday night (I get distracted. Sorry.) I strongly recommend you attend WE Science Body's first Outreach of the year at Stewart Elementary down here in Pinole. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and ends at a modest, "school-night" time of 8:00 p.m. (As if high schoolers needed another excuse to not do math homework.) I anticipate your arrival, whether I know you or not. There is no entrance fee and all are welcome (except convicts and party-poopers, it's not super fun to end the night with sirens, people.) 

With that, goodnight, and I hope to see you there! 

WE Begins!

If you're cringing at my grammar, that's alright. WE, in this case, is a singular proper noun. It's not a pronoun. WE is what everyone calls the Pinole Valley High School WE Science Body, because, honestly, that's a mouthful.

The 2013-2014 school year poster for Homecoming! Bringing it back. 

WE is a club at Pinole Valley High School, located in Pinole, California, USA, North America, Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, Observable Universe. Don't forget - Room 14! WE is most famous for participating in events known as Outreaches, where WE visits an elementary or middle school to present several experiments led by the wonderful members themselves. WE is also known for participating and representing Pinole Valley competitively in both MESA and UC Berkeley's Pioneers in Engineering, where WE members must organize and present science projects, and in PiE's case, a fully operating robot. A lot of extra work, but, at the same time, a lot of fun if you're genuinely interested in the science behind these separate projects.

WE officially met for the first time this school year on the 29th of August (2014, in case you're not updated), a Friday, as always. WE's officers have been organizing and planning out the year ahead since summer vacation, which ended on the 17th. Hitting the ground running, members of the previous school year's WE met in Mrs. Olano's chemistry lab to get updated on how the year's going to be set up. Talk of a possible field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco certainly spurred the interest of everyone in the room. In short, WE got down to business that Friday.

Can't forget that beginning-of-the-year ice breaker. 

WE has - sorry grammar pickers - a bright future ahead this year, and hopefully for the rest of its years. I don't mean to jinx anything. I'd knock on wood, but this Dell is a bit too advanced for that. Tomorrow holds promise for new, fresh faces at the after-school meeting being held, for the school is hosting its annual Club Awareness Day. Club Awareness Day is a small fair held to show off and recruit new members for the several clubs around the school. A lot can be said about Pinole Valley, and one of those is that its extracurriculars are where it's at. I wholeheartedly recommend any freshmen even remotely interested in science or volunteer work to join WE Science Body as a member this year. Granted, I am a bit bias, but I don't lie. Honesty is the best policy. Duh.

Before this post is over and I pick at my little errors, I'd like to formally introduce the WE Science Body Officers this year! There's a whole lot of them, so this is going to take a while.

From left to right!
Back row: Christiano Cuyno, peacekeeper; Thomas Johnston, MESA Lead; Andrew Nguyen, Experiment Lead; Neilson Pacquing, Treasurer; Christian Damonde, Assistant PiE Lead; Junhui Zhou, PiE Lead; Michael Mart, Assistant PiE Lead.
Front row: Sofia San Bartolome, Publicist; Jessa Dee Carino, Secretary; Lisa Romero, Vice President; Brittany Tran, President!

Are y'all serious?
(Also- Mrs. Olano! WE's Club Sponsor and lovely lady of the everyday.)

Of course they can't be serious. What did you really expect?

WE Reaches Out

Outreaches, you say?

 We've spent weeks in preparation for today! Hours of meetings designed to practice experiments and a numerous amount of support from our members  -- it has resulted in a very successful outreach. Outreaches, if you do not know, is jargon -- though, I doubt of its authenticity as we are not involved in any sort of vocation -- for events where we hold mini-science fairs, introducing kids to interesting and interactive experiments. Although the WE Science Body has multiple events to offer, the outreaches we provide are essential to building our relationship with not only the future generations, but also with the community. 

We offered the following projects: Styrofoam Project, Red Cabbage, Magic Leak, Proof Bags, Potatoes & Straws, Neodymium Magnet, and Fruit Power Battery.

 I [Junhui Zhou] was part of the Potatoes & Straws section. Essentially, our section offered the kids two ways to try to poke a hole through a potato using a straw: with both ends of the straw open or with one of the ends closed. The one with both ends open would be significantly harder than the latter as the method with one end closed was highly more efficient. By closing one end, the air molecules inside the straw would only have only one passage to diffuse: the end directed towards the potato. This created a one-line stream of air molecules, which bolstered the force of a stab by the potato killer and in addition, the compressed air molecules, with no other way out the molecules would become denser, made it easier to puncture a hole in the "flimsy" potato. The entire process was facetious: watching the children struggle (though, some were just more genetically fit than us), assisting them with an explanation of compression, and reveling, at least in our minds, to their success. At first, parents were a bit confused and skeptical if whether or not our experiment was related to science, but a majority of them, and hopefully all of them, were satisfied by the end of the day.

More descriptions to come!

 Special thanks to Interact and Film Club, also from our school, for assisting us! Not only were their contributions significant, but also their hilarious acts of humor lightened the mood. They helped serve the "munchies" to the children, parents, and the hungry high-schoolers that later need to do homework. Film Club also helped us out by recording. Also, special thanks to Art Club for making all the posters! Their contribution to this communal event will not only bolster our club's success but also enhance the unity of our school -- we're not just WE, but we're WE.

Shout-out to Bryan, the President of WE, and Mrs, Olano, our teacher adviser.

Balloon in a bottle, literally.

 At the end of the day, it's mind-blowing how many people came today! WE started out as a small group, but has expanded to a universal size! Ok, maybe not that large, but that's besides the point. I'd like to commemorate the Founding Fathers for starting something so unique, but it ultimately lies within the hands of members, both past and present, for expanding the club to be so successful! We will be WE, but only YOU can be WE. 

Just to accentuate the number people that came to the outreach!

Candid picture of the children. :)

The officers for this year. 

Let their be potatoes. And towers. And potato towers. 

Flying With Friends

Meetings every Friday: I always see enthusiastic and hyperactive freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors -- ready to engage in another day's worth of activity. It especially sparks a small sentiment for the day when everyone engages with each other, which is exactly what we did last week. 

Using paper airplanes, we examined the effects of adjustment to the plane's wing length and width, and the structure of the planes themselves. Instead of going to the physics behind it -- namely equations -- we decided to let them physically modify the airplanes to engage themselves in the relationships. By introducing basic fluid dynamics, we gave them the concepts needed to experiment with paper -- leading to an interactive experience rather than just a classroom lecture. Like Icarus and Daedalus, we experienced the limitations of our supplies and capability of the quality, trying to ascend through the skies, piercing the threshold of a fabric of boredom that oscillates much like that of the airplane, indulging ourselves in the excitement of the "longest air-time" or the "farthest distance" -- like children, ending with a faint chagrin most of the time.

That was last week! This week we had an ice-breaker to try to learn (or attempt to) everyone's name. We formed a circle, and played "I Love my Neighbors who..." -- person in middle says a phrase with an interest and/or similarity and people who have that quality will disperse to find a room in the circle and the last one to arrive at a spot will be the person in the middle. This didn't work out as well as intended as many people were reluctant to speak, which we all tried to push by "forcing" some newcomers to speak. We got through everyone, but it was very rushed at the end! Nonetheless, we all learned at least one new name! Collectively, as our group becomes more unified, we'll become a stronger and stronger entity of influence. E pluribus unum -- from many, one. 

Ready for flight!

What a big group!

Colorful -- person and plane.

Trying something new, maybe even on the boundaries of insanity and creativity -- two of the same.

It's bigger than her (their) head(s)!

A wasteland!

What Comes Next?

A new year entails many old and new experiences, but there will always be one rising anomaly in midst of an ever-changing high-school environment -- WE Science Body.  Like a seed, its roots have burgeoned into a towering tree, full of diverse branches, that continues to spread its influence to the youth. 

For those reading this blog who don't know what WE Science Body is -- it's a multi-faceted science club that actively holds "outreaches", events where we present the youth around the area experiments involving all three natural sciences, and strives to instigate a passion for not only science, but the act of doing science through competitions such as MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) and PiE (Pioneers in Engineering). 

"The Founding Fathers" (I'm not neglecting the Mothers)

Five years ago, this club was established as a means of promoting environmental awareness, but little did they [Founding Fathers] know that their  efforts would have such an impact. Five years of success, five years of growth. Their planting methods certainly worked as the club has been strong in leadership, organization, and innovation. Not only constructing the "leaders of tomorrow," but also consolidating the scattered science interests into a unified entity of creativity. Surprising to think that this all started five years ago, nonetheless started at all... I wonder -- if it weren't for the efforts of 2008, would we be here in the first place? I don't think anyone would have had such spontaneous and collective motivation to make such a unique club -- it's befitting to really call them the Founding Fathers. Actually, I coined this term for them literally moments ago. No one is probably going to use this term since we're fairly close with the alumni who started this phenomenon. It's extremely rare for alumni to have such a connective bond with their alma mater; they still visit us often, and although they're years older than us, we can communicate with them as if they were our peers. Maybe it's because of their amicable nature that has resulted in such an effective club. 

This was in 2010, two years after the club's founding. At a local elementary school around the area.

We recently had our first meeting -- a week ago. Last year during orientation, we had enough people to the extent of not having enough seats for everyone... It was an inspiring and mind-blowing sight -- seeing a group full of prospects. The year before, it wasn't nearly as colossal in size;  I could actually breathe in the room. But, this year was just as ripe as last year, if not more. We really have branched. 

Where do go from here? I know indefinitely that we're going to have a productive year, I can feel the vibe evoked through the atmosphere of the first meeting. A boom in size, a boom in inspiration. But really, 

what comes next?