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MSI combats summer brain drain with science games

There are usually few things to worry about as a kid enjoying the summer vacation — whether to go to the pool, chill outside in the backyard, call over a few buddies for an impromptu play session.

Parents and teachers have been constantly trying to find a middle ground where the summer can be a time of relaxation and an opportunity to keep learning. Studies have shown that kids can lose from one to three months of learning over the summer in what's called the “summer brain drain.”

The Museum of Science and Industry is here to help with its new eight-week Summer Brain Games program consisting of fun, free weekly activities to keep kids learning about science while school is out for the summer. To participate from the comfort of their own home, students just need a computer and a few home supplies.

After making many of the same educational activities while at the museum, Nicole Kowrach, director of teaching and learning at the museum, said she wanted to reach out to families who could not come to the museum but could still benefit from a summer program.

Kowrach said she tried to combine useful scientific knowledge with a loose and fun way of learning and came up with the brain games this year.

“Science is so fundamental to our lives, because everything we do is based on an understanding of how the world around us works,” Kowrach says.

Every week, families who sign up online at www.msichicago.org/summerbrain will receive an email notification explaining the new activity, which includes a list of required materials, ingredients, a guide to how the experiment works with instructions, as well as a small video to give some extra tips. There will be an experiment every week through Aug 6.

Along with the activities, families will receive a free voucher to come to the museum and every week there will be one winner chosen to win a yearlong family membership to the museum.

Later in the program, students who share their experiences from the Summer Brain Games could even win a family tech package including a notebook computer, an iPad and a digital camera.

The experiments that have been conducted so far include learning about how a machine works by making a water balloon catapult for a water balloon fight and an introduction to the world of insects and bugs and how they interact by making a garden. This past week's activity had a Fourth of July-themed chemistry lesson on how to make “fireworks” with just baking soda and vinegar.

Upcoming exercises include a lesson on buoyancy by seeing how air and weight can make a boat float or keep a submarine under water and how to use the sun to create thermal energy, and in turn, cook food like s'mores.

While the summer may be a time to relax, Kowrach who is a teacher, said kids need activities to keep their brains occupied and learning.

“There is a spirit of inquiring, experimenting and always wanting to learn about the world around them that the museum can help bring out,” Kowrach said.

A family readies their own water-balloon catapult made from common household objects through the Summer Brain Games guide program through the Museum of Science and Industry. courtesy of the museum of science and industry

Summer Brain Games

<b>Where: </b>Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, (773) 753-6249

<b>When: </b>Through the week of Aug. 6

<b>How to register: </b>Visit

<a href="http://www.msichicago.org/summerbrain" target="_blank">msichicago.org/summerbrain</a>

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