HARRISBURG, S.D. (KELO)– Dozens of students from Adventure Elementary and their families got the chance to learn more about animal biology at a demonstration put on by Augustana students. The college students shared with the kids what they are learning in their courses and how it applies to what is being taught in elementary science.

Emma White is learning about animals in her third-grade science class. Now, she is able to see some higher-level animal biology through hands-on activities by Augustana students.

“It’s really cool,” said White.

These students are not biology majors, so getting to learn how to teach younger students the material they are learning actually helps them digest the information themselves.

“It’s kind of like a reinforcement. So we learned it in class, they always say the best way to learn something is to teach it to somebody else, so it kind of gives us the chance to teach it and it’s allowed us to go more in-depth than what we have in the class,” said Tyson Cowger, senior.

They are hoping the younger students take away some knowledge, but ultimately get excited to learn more about science.

“We aren’t going to expect them to learn the college material that we learned in biology at Augustana, but down the road, 10, 12 years, when they are beginning to make those decisions about college, they can remember the science that they had and how much fun the biology students looked like they were having,” said Cowger.

“I think it’s important to have these interactive experiences that don’t know what it is like and they can kind of get a feel for what college was like and can kind of see how Augustana comes together in teams,” said Kayleona Brandenburg, freshman.

Giving back to the community, through a fun learning experience.

“It allows all of us non-majors to go beyond the scope of our major and display what we’ve learned outside of a liberal arts perspective, and another important core value for us is it lets us fill the service core value by giving back to our community,” said Cowger.

If you weren’t able to make it to science night, the Augie students will also be holding STEM camps throughout the summer and an outreach program at the Brookings library.