How big did you want that playground?

Mat Parsons, a freshmen psychology major at Bloomsburg University, asks children what they'd like at Kidsburg.

Nearly 20 Bloomsburg students spent a morning with children at Central Columbia Elementary School to ask what features they'd like to see in the new Kidsburg at Bloomsburg Town Park. The Bloomsburg University students became involved through the Center for Community Research and Consulting and education professor Michael Patte.

The original Kidsburg was ruined in the 2011 flood. The new Kidsburg will be located on higher ground at the park. Volunteers steering the construction of the new park hope to start building in June. Learn more about the park at www.facebook.com/groups/kidsburg or www.kidsburg.org.

Science, old school style

When it comes to technology in the labs. Bloomsburg has tons. But there's nothing like the tactile coolness of old science stuff. A recent project for the STEM Magnet project took me into the physics department supply closets to photograph some objects for some sleek, high-key art.

Technical notes: These photos were taken fast with a Panasonic LX5 with just room and window light and a large white sheet of paper. Colors and exposure were shifted a lot to compensate for the mixed color temperature of the lighting. An advantage of small sensor pocket cameras is that that have a very large depth of field, which is very helpful when working close to objects like this. I've used both the Panasonic LX5 and the Olympus XZ-1 and personally, I give the edge to the Panasonic because the controls seem more intuitive to me. (Click on any image to make it larger.)