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Staff from the Carnegie Science Institute in Pittsburgh held a visiting field trip Wednesday at New Matamoras Elementary School.

The theme of the event, which included hands-on demonstrations, was conserving resources.

NEW MATAMORAS - It may have been the fire and explosions that most captured the attention of New Matamoras Elementary students Wednesday during a day devoted to science, but the suggestions of how to live "green and clean" also took hold.

"Shutting off the water when you're not using it can save a swimming pool of water (in a year)," said fifth-grader Caleb McLeish, 10. "That surprised me."

During a visiting "field trip" from the Carnegie Science Institute in Pittsburgh, the entire school had a chance to be wowed by experiments and lessons from the institute staff and then broke into small groups to try some hands-on activities throughout the day. The theme was conserving resources, and students got to do everything from making sculptures with biodegradable materials to demonstrating how wind energy works.

"It gets them excited about science," said kindergarten teacher Jill Cisler. "It's a lot easier to teach them when they're excited about it."

The youngest students may not walk away knowing all the terminology but they were grasping the most important part of the lessons, said Frontier High School junior Seth Lemasters, who was one of 10 high school physics students helping with experiments.

"The (kindergartners and first-graders) are just starting to learn and we don't do everything with them, but we give them the basics," he said. "Then they can build off the foundation."

Lemasters and Frontier senior Kyle Ogaz spent the day teaching the elementary students about different types of light bulbs and temperature.

"It's something they can touch and feel the different heat on the different bulbs," said Ogaz, 17. "It helps them grasp the idea."

Preserving the earth isn't just something for scientists to worry about, Carnegie Science Center's Mike Hennessy, aka Captain Green, told the students during his kick-off presentation.

"You guys can make choices everyday," he said. "It's not just about what scientists in a lab do."

Hennessy wowed the students with small explosions, fires and bubbles while teaching them about energy sources, biofuels and what exactly a carbon footprint is.

"My favorite part was when he popped the balloon," said sixth-grader Norman Hurt, 11. "It shook the floor."