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Engineers for a day at Long Island Science Center

Scouts from Cub Scout Pack 90 in Mount Sinai stopped by the Long Island Science Center Saturday to learn about engineering. (Tim Gannon photo)

Most lists of the top careers usually have engineering in there somewhere.

So it’s fitting that the Long Island Science Center on West Main Street in Riverhead is getting kids interested in engineering at an early age.

On Saturday, The Science Center invited kids to “be an engineer.” The Science Center offered kids a chance to learn about bridge building, boat making and the physics of toys by allowing them to make their own.

“We have an area where they can make popsicle stick bridges (also known as craft sticks), as well as propellor driven cars,” said museum assistant Amber Setelius.

The kids also had a chance to learn about how skyscrapers are built, what engineers do and how make an aluminum foil boat. In addition, there was an area where kids could try to make a “cup stack” skyscraper, done by stacking cups on top of each other.

“The goal is to see how fast can you build it up high and them collapse it,” Ms. Setelius said.

It’s all self-guided and open to the public. The engineering course usually occurs about once every six months, Ms. Setelius said, and the Science Center has different programs each week.

“The theme changes from Saturday to Saturday,” she said.

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