Science

Starting when Jeremiah Hovsepian was about 4 years old, his father, Greg Bearce, would read science encyclopedias to him at night instead of more traditional bedtime stories. Bearce thought Jeremiah would benefit from an introduction to science, and Bearce certainly found reading the encyclopedias more interesting than reading Dr. Seuss, he said. The early exposure to science translated into an interest in the subject for Jeremiah, who is now 13. When he was in first grade, he gave monthly science presentations to his classmates.

Gary Moskowitz To an eighth-grade student in middle school, somebody who knows about liquid rocket engines is immediately dubbed "cool." Eighth-grade science classes at Toll Middle School got a visit Wednesday from four Boeing employees, who talked to students about rocketry, computers and what life is like for a physicist. The visit came during a career-day event at the school. For Boeing physicist Aaron Schwartzbart, the chance to talk to students about science, physics and space travel is an opportunity to change a student's outlook on life.

Community center lends HELPing hand LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Students who need some extra guidance with homework assignments can get HELP at the Roger Barkley Community Center. HELP, or Hollywood Educational Learning Program, provides tutoring for elementary school students in math, English, spelling, science and history twice a week at the center. No registration is required and tutoring sessions are free. Tutors are available from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays.

Gary Moskowitz SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- It will be a battle of brains at Monday's 12th annual High School Scholastic Bowl Monday. Five-member student teams from Crescenta Valley, Clark Magnet, Hoover and Glendale high schools will compete in the event, which begins at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Glendale High, 1440 E. Broadway. The event is free and open to the public. Crescenta Valley High is the defending champion. Students compete by answering questions in language arts, social science, math, science and fine arts.

GLENDALE — The fate of three eighth-graders Monday was held by a jury of their seventh-grade peers. A guilty verdict would mean trash pickup. But students Arshen Charmahali, Christian Marquis and Livia Martorana knew what they were getting into when the applied for the role in the mock trial at Wilson Middle School. The Windsor Crime Scene Investigation traces a make-believe robbery in the school library. The project becomes an assembly hosted by an English, science and history class.

Women in science and the future were the topics of conversation at Wednesday's luncheon at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club. The Director's Advisory Council for Woman at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory celebrated Women's History Month with its annual luncheon. The theme this year was "Celebrating the Voice of Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams." The advisory council has been in existence for more than 20 years. It has sponsored programs like Wednesday's luncheon and take your daughter to work day. This year ACW's guest speaker was the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Shirley Ann Jackson.

Before “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” was a prime-time television show, it was a program at Wilson Middle School. Wilson’s longer-running series is an interdisciplinary activity to teach students science, English and history concepts through a mock criminal investigation and trial. And while the broadcast of new episodes of the television show slowed in January because of the writers strike, Crime Scene Investigation continued at Wilson, where students collected evidence, interviewed witnesses and learned about the rights of the accused, in preparation for a mock trial that began Tuesday at the school.

Co-op preschool plans open house On Saturday, Feb. 7, the Crescenta Cañada Cooperative Nursery School will host an open house from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The open house offers a chance to meet the teachers, allowing children to explore and play while parents talk with other parents first hand about the benefits of a cooperative pre-school program. The school is for children 2 years, 9 months through 5 years old. Enrollment for fall 2009 is underway for the Monday, Wednesday, Friday Busy Bear program for 4-year-olds and for the Tuesday-Thursday Darling Ducks program for 3-year-olds.

Janine Marnien LA CRESCENTA -- The multipurpose room at La Crescenta Elementary was transformed Tuesday into a shrine to the politics of the physical world as students put out their projects for judging in the school's science fair. Planets, dried and fermenting produce and an ant farm were some of the topics explored by students. The students worked on the projects for up to two months, event organizer Allen Farrington said. The work paid off, especially for students Stephanie Patton and Evan Cobb, whose projects stood out because they were appropriate for their ages and because both students learned from doing them, Farrington said.

Marshall Allen The contributions to the science of information theory by La Canada Flintridge resident Lloyd Welch, 74, are changing the way information is transmitted around the world. They have also led to him being presented the top international information theory honor -- the Shannon Lecture Award. The award is given by the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers and named after Claude Shannon, an American mathematical engineer who is widely considered to be the founding father of the electronic information age. The Shannon Lecture Award is given yearly to the person who's made significant contributions to the field of information theory -- the science dealing with how messages are transmitted and received.