“Raise your hands if you want to know a secret,” acclaimed author and cartoonist Jorge Cham instructed a crowd of young children. Hundreds of tiny arms shot up in unison toward the cafeteria ceiling.
“Butterflies drink with a straw,” he said. Bustling with excitement, the students expressed their astonishment with “oohs” and “wows.”
Cham spoke to more than 500 elementary school students during two assemblies April 18 at Ada Givens Elementary School in Merced. The first gathering focused on his children’s TV series “Elinor Wonders Why,” about a curious rabbit that goes on adventures with her friends to gain knowledge by questioning and exploring. Cham co-writes and co-produces the PBS Kids series and accompanying books constructed to make science relatable to children.
His visit was co-hosted by UC Merced’s Secure Water Future, a collaborative of investigators who aim to improve agricultural and environmental water resilience, and the campus’s Graduate Division, to provide engaging science programming to audiences on and off campus.
“One of Secure Water Future's goals is to increase science literacy in our local communities, especially with populations that might not have the same level of educational access,” said Sarah Naumes, senior director of Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives. “We want to ensure that kids in the states where we work — California, New Mexico and Utah — know that science can be fun and engaging.
“This was an investment in the future.”
