Experimenting with fun

Destin Elementary School held its annual Science Night on Monday in the cafeteria, where kids had the opportunity to play with hands-on science experiments set up by the Emerald Coast Science Center.

There were 15 experiments dealing with everything from gravity to cymatics spread out across the cafeteria, and students and their parents mingled around the room trying all of them out. Each station was led by a DES Junior Deputy or a Fort Walton Beach High School leadership class student. 

"This event is mainly to give the students some hands-on experience with different applications of science that they may not see in the curriculum," said Al Gardner, principal of Destin Elementary. "Any time kids can touch, see and feel, they can learn a lot from that." 

Grady Sharron, a second grader who was delighted by the gravity experiment, said he very much enjoyed Science Night. 

"I love the 'floaty' thing, how gravity can pull it up and down like that," he said. "I love science and that I can learn about matter." 

The event was funded by the Destin Elementary PTO.