On Wednesday, January 26, 2011 the Rutgers Science Bus was once again parked outside Assumption Catholic School. This was the third year that the bus has visited us here at ACS. Students in grades five through eight were taken aboard the bus in small groups where they met graduate school scientists from Rutgers University.

After introductions the two scientists led a discussion on one of our endangered resources, oil. When the discussion was finished, students were led through an activity to get an idea of how oil companies look for places that might yield oil. At the end the students had to “drill” for oil. They tried to make money by using their new skills to read a map and select the best place to look for oil. Each time they were successful in striking oil, they made a profit of four million dollars.  Some students made more than nine million dollars while other groups went bankrupt. In the end, it was a fun day enjoyed by all of the students.