RE-SEED is a Northeastern University program that prepares retired volunteers with science and engineering backgrounds to assist middle school science teachers with activity-based teaching. The program which started in 1991 with six participants, has now trained over 230 volunteers in five New England states and is continuing to grow rapidly.

Saint Michael School is proud and honored to have Mr. Anderson as part of our school family. We affectionately call Mr. Anderson, our Science Guy. But here are a few more facts that you may not have known. Mr. Anderson, a proud husband, father and grandfather, lives in nearby Burlington. He was a student at Reading High School. He graduated from Northeastern University with a Master's Degree and later a Ph.D in electronic engineering. In his career he designed "advanced photo-optical and electro-optical camera systems for use on airplanes and on spacecraft."

Mr. Anderson served in the United States Navy and served his country for four years from 1948 through 1952. As a crew member of the famous U.S.S. Salem, the nation's largest heavy battle cruiser, he worked as a radar operator during the Korean Conflict and today is a week-end tour guide for his former ship which is docked in Quincy, as part of the United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum there.

In 1992, Mr. Anderson became an active member of Project RE-SEED. This organization operated by Northeaster University and sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a volunteer program of retired scientists and engineers who use their knowledge and experience to help teach physical science in middle school classrooms. Now Mr. Anderson "speaks the language of math and science to middle school children." The RE-SEED approach to teaching relies heavily on hands-on experiments which proves very successful with school children. Mr. Anderson currently works with approximately 1,500 students in five schools in the Merrimack Valley. Mr. Anderson works in collaboration with the Quincy Public School, bringing students on-board the U.S.S. Salem for instruction. Talk about sharing your time, talent and treasure!!!

At Saint Michael School, we are excited that Mr. Anderson has agreed to expand his program to include our 4th and 5th graders. Parents, friends and visitors are invited to visit during any of Mr. Anderson's demonstrations. Be prepared to be in awe and excited about science. Check out our upcoming topics:

This topic introduces the principles of simple machines. Learn how you can lift heavy objects with a minimum of energy. There will be lots of hands-on demonstrations involving every student - who knows you might even be lifted off the ground with this demonstration.

Students will be asked to identify the composition of a number of substances and comparing the numerical ratio to a scale of Densities to identify the object. Specific Gravity will be introduced as an alternative means of determining Density when the ability to measure the volume of the object becomes mathematically difficult. Archimedes Principle will be explored via the Golden Crown Experiment. Buoyancy will be introduced and demonstrations will be conducted showing the relationship between Buoyancy and Density.

This topic introduces the theories of Magnetism, Static Electricity and Electricity. Each one of these topics will be investigated thoroughly and similarities between them will be identified and explored. There will be lots of hands-on demonstrations involving every student.

The subject of motion has been studied by some of the greatest scientists and philosophers for over 25 centuries, and for most of that time they had it wrong. Not only did they have it wrong, but as Galileo said about Aristotle, the truth was often the exact opposite of what he thought to be the case. It can be said, therefore, with some confidence, that the laws of motion are not obvious. Students will be using experimentation, imagination and discussion to learn more about the Laws of Motion.

The many amusing and instructive demonstrations of pressure will be supplemented with problem-solving exercises in order to effect the transition from concrete to formal thinking. The major areas of investigation will be Air Pressure, Liquid Pressure, and Atmospheric Pressure.

The scientific revolution began with the realization that the Earth is just another Planet in orbit around the Sun. Although nothing can be less obvious, satellite photography have made all the planets, including earth familiar to everyone. We will study the sun and understand how important it is to all forms of life including the life and earth of the star and the origin of black holes. We will review our concepts of the Universe from the days of Erastothemes to Stephan Hawkings. We will review the concepts of the two greatest forces in the universe, that of gravity and momentum.

This lecture and hands-on demonstration will explore surface tension, soap as a lubricant, and seeing just how big we can expand the skin of the bubble. This is a fun exercise in physics.

Aerodynamics is the study of air as it moves around objects. The air may flow around a motionless object, such as wind blowing around a house. Or the object may move through air, such as an airplane. The important condition in aerodynamics is motion between the air and the object. Scientists use the principle aerodynamics chiefly in designing airplanes. But the flight of birds demonstrated the principles of aerodynamics long before man learned to fly. We will investigate the principles of flight from Leonardo De Vinci to Bernoulli's principle of lift.