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The program is a smaller version of the University of Hawai鈥榠鈥檚 (UH) GENE-ius Day program and caters to aspiring young scientists in grades 4-6.

Former UOG Associate Director for Extension and Outreach Jim Hollyer, brought the program to UOG with the help of Dr. Ania Wieczorek, Director of the Hawai鈥榠 GENE-ius Day program at the College of Agriculture & Human Resources at the University of Hawai鈥榠 at M膩noa.

Claire Yi demonstrates to her mother how to prepare a microscope slide and how to operate a microscope.

鈥淚 call it serious and fun science,鈥� said Hollyer. 鈥淭he idea is in order for the U.S. and the world to be better prepared for what鈥檚 coming up on our planet, you need to have scientists. We need to inspire younger children to be scientists when they become adults 鈥� or, at the very least, to learn how to think logically and critically.鈥� 

Kamille Wang, the Guam GENE-ius program manager, agrees that the goal is to encourage students to build their passion for science and stimulate curiosity.

鈥淲e encourage kids to do more hands-on work and they do a lot of group collaboration and inquiry-based activities. It鈥檚 something that鈥檚 more fun for kids opposed to sitting down in classrooms and just learning about science through textbooks,鈥� said Wang.

UOG professor of agriculture Robert Bevacqua is the grandfather of one of the young GENE-iuses.

鈥淸My granddaughter] is in a generation where she鈥檚 grown up with handheld devices and so she鈥檚 a little bit addicted to them. And so this breaks her out of that mold and engages her in the real world with scientific applications and can encourage her in school,鈥� said Bevacqua.

The instructors of the program are UOG alumni and have each earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology.

鈥淲e have credible science funneled through trained people who are fun to learn from,鈥� said Hollyer.

AJ Morales, 6^th grader, said 鈥淚 like that the instructors, they help you out whenever you need help and they have clear explanations on stuff.鈥�

The program鈥檚 early success is in great part due to the collaboration with UH.

鈥淲e credit a lot of our work from UH,鈥� said Wang. 鈥淭hey gave us 5 lessons out of their 24. They trained me on how to run the program. Eventually, we鈥檙e hoping to obtain the whole curriculum so we can offer the complete program.鈥�

Guam GENE-ius differs a little from Hawai鈥榠 in that some lessons teach scientific disciplines that are offered at the UOG College of Natural & Applied Sciences including military science, food science, and consumer family science.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that in the end, kids will want to pursue a career in the sciences,鈥� said Wang. 

 

Sumahi Bevacqua (right) and her brother Akli鈥檈鈥� (center) learn about astronomy through a constellation identification activity, while their grandfather and UOG professor of agriculture Dr. Robert Bevacqua looks on.