Making slime, tie-dyed T-shirts and dry-ice ghosts was how 60 students in grades 2-5 spent their day off school Monday during McNeese State University’s Science Trick and Treat event.

The event, which took place during a teacher in-service day, was sponsored by the McNeese student chapter of the American Chemical Society to raise funds for the chapter to attend an international conference.

Andie Jones, McNeese student and chapter secretary, said the children were able to conduct a variety of science experiments during two different sessions. Jones said the purpose was to give the students hands-on experience with science, teach them the meaning behind the experiments and have fun.

“A lot of schools don’t do activities like this,” Jones said. “The kids hear about different chemical reactions, but they don’t get the hands-on experience. I think it’s fun for them to actually see it and work it.”

Jones said that when students participate in experiments like this, they understand the science behind them. She said students will remember the concepts better because the experiments are fun — and that will help them over the years in school.

Jones said one of the experiments involved soap and taught the children about surface tension. “When you put the paper in water, it will sit there,” she said. “But when you put soap in it, it breaks the tension and it will make the kids’ little boats shoot all over the place.”(Rick Hickman/American Press)