Ayden Rojas of Bethlehem knows what he wants to do when he gets older.
'When I'm 18, I'm going to the moon,' the 6-year-old says confidently.
Lehigh University physics professor Gary DeLeo seeks to ignite the imaginations of Rojas and about 20 other members of the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem during a presentation about space at the Bethlehem Area Public Library's South Side branch.
'We are going to take a trip across the solar system!' DeLeo says in a Bill Nye the Science Guy-kinda-way.
DeLeo's presentation, complete with rocket ship models and movie clips, is one of many such programs taking place at Lehigh Valley libraries this summer.
This year's theme is science, technology, engineering and math or STEM. Libraries can offer a wide range of programs under the theme, from animals and chemistry to Legos and sci-fi, says Susan Pannebaker of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau of Library Development.
'The programs are supplementing what they get in school,' Pannebaker says. 'Some schools may not be able to do hands-on activities.'
More than anything, the programs should be fun.
Valley libraries have programs planned in July and August.
Dry ice and slime were part of a day packed with science, courtesy of the Da Vinci Science Center recently at the Lower Macungie Public Library.
In one of the classes, kindergarten and first-grade students mixed colors. 'They were having a blast,' says Erin Harris, the library's youth services director. 'It was very creative. They could see some of those basic things, and that there's a science behind it.'
Another group learned about measurement and safety, while another experimented with dry ice.
Librarians hope programs like these help get kids interested in science.
'I'm hoping that if they see science as something fun that they will see science is for everyone,' says Audrey Kantner, Easton Area Public Library's coordinator of youth services. 'We all use science every day when we cook, when we clean.'
'Cold science' and Harry Potter spells are among the activities the Easton library has planned this summer. Lafayette College physics professor Andrew Dougherty will teach about dry ice and liquid nitrogen. The 7 p.m. Aug. 5 program is for kids 6 years old and up. Registration is required. The library is also hosting a class on how to make Harry Potter potions at 7 p.m. July 12 for children 7 to 12 but it's already full and has a waiting list.
Programs at the Bethlehem Area Public Library include Lego and block building for kids ages 3-10. Lego activities - seen as a way to build engineering skills - are offered 2 p.m. July 14 and 11 a.m. July 31 and Aug. 14.
During his presentation at Bethlehem's South Side branch, DeLeo displayed models of Apollo 13. He showed the takeoff scene from the movie 'Apollo 13' and the landing scene from the HBO series 'From the Earth to the Moon.'
'Only 12 human beings have landed on the surface of the moon,' DeLeo tells the kids (who couldn't quite believe that.)
DeLeo says elementary school students are sponges for science knowledge. Especially when it comes to outer space.
'Space is the coolest, as far as kids think,' he says.
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