UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The EQT Foundation, the charitable arm of Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., has gifted $121,350 to WPSU Penn State for further development and expansion of its Science-U @ Home multiplatform programming. Science-U @ Home presents brief television segments, two-minute online educational videos, and do-it-yourself experiments for teachers, parents and children that build on curriculum delivered by the Eberly College of Science at Penn State Science-U summer camps. The EQT Foundation first funded the project with a gift of $115,000 in 2016.
Ellen Rossi, manager of the EQT Foundation, said the videos provide foundational steps in learning about science for children.
“Science-U @ Home videos have been really successful in providing quick bites of education for children,” Rossi said. “They create an additional path to learn about science and spark interest in STEM-related fields of study. The goal of EQT’s additional funding is primarily to offer Science-U @ Home to a larger audience through events and social media engagement.”
Elaine Brzycki, project development manager for WPSU Penn State, said WPSU is working with Public Broadcasting Service stations in Pittsburgh and Charleston, West Virginia, to expand the reach of Science-U @ Home for 2019.
“Our sister public media stations, WQED and WVPB, have agreed to air Science-U segments during PBS Kids television programming, and share reciprocal links on their websites and through social media,” Brzycki said. “In addition, WQED will share Science-U curriculum materials in their ongoing activities with local libraries.”
Kristian Berg, senior producer/director for WPSU, said Science-U @ Home offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate how science is a part of a child’s everyday life through videos, including “Testing the 5-second rule” and “Can you get power from a lemon?”
“Capturing the camper kids’ joy of discovery on camera makes kids watching at home want to join in,” Berg said. “Parents have told us stories of their kids marching around the living room chanting our theme song.”
Science-U @ Home materials are also available at PBS Learning Media, an online resource for teachers. To watch episodes and learn more, visit WPSU Science-U @ Home online.
This gift will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.