CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — This week, students in Centre County learned that science really is all around us.

Curiosity and learning has been flowing throughout different Centre County schools with the entrance of the Curiosity Cube from MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. 

“We’re here at the MilliporeSigma Curiosity Cube, sparking curiosity in hopefully the next generation of scientists,” Curiosity Cube Coordinator Audra Demariano said.

On the go, the Curiosity Cube may look like an ordinary shipping container, but Demariano assured that it is something special.

“It’s a retro-fitted laboratory and classroom,” Demariano said. “Students get the opportunity to perform hands-on science experiments at a variety of three different activities, learning all about their microbiome.”

Students who visit the cube become a scientist for the day. They partake in hands-on experiments that they may not be exposed to inside the classroom from actual scientists in the Centre region.

“No student wants to just sit at their seat and read from a boring textbook,” Bellefonte Elementary School Teacher Sara Wolfe said. “Although learning from the textbook is important because there’s a lot of information in it, students learn a lot better when they have the opportunity to be hands-on and apply what they’re learning.”

For some students, this was their first time learning about these topics.

“It’s exciting to be doing all of this because I’ve never done something like this,” fourth grader Jacqueline Klinek said.

The Curiosity Cube has one more stop on its tour in Centre County. The cube will be open to the public on Saturday at the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center in State College from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“It’s a lot of fun,” fourth grader Owen Wolfe said. “It’s super exciting because you just don’t get to do this everyday.”