The BioBus, a mobile, pop-up science lab for kids, came to Glendale’s Dry Harbor Playground last week as part of an initiative from Council Member Joann Ariola to provide a hands-on educational experience for children living in the neighborhood.
The pop-up science lab, which visited Dry Harbor Playground on Wednesday, Sept. 24, helps K-12 and college students discover, explore and pursue science and aims to reach students excluded from the scientific community due to factors such as race, gender, economic status and physical access.
Ariola, whose office provides funding to help support the bus’s mission, said she thought Sept. 24 represented an ideal opportunity to bring the BioBus to Glendale because public schools were closed for the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday.
“This way the kids could still get a great educational experience outside of regular classroom hours,” Ariola said in a statement. “The BioBus’s mission to bring hands-on science into our communities is something that I absolutely love.”
Alison, a scientist onboard the BioBus mobile lab, described the Sept. 24 visit to Glendale as “such a fun day” that connected the “world of the playground to the world under the microscope.”
“Kids were all over the playground finding things to look at under the microscope. Some students came back several times with new things to look at each time,” Alison said. “It was great to see so many families using the microscopes together.”
BioBus said 130 people visited the Glendale pop-up last week during its time at Dry Harbor Playground.
Ariola, meanwhile, plans to bring the mobile science lab back to Glendale in the future and encouraged local residents to keep an eye on her social media pages for future updates.
