The Kentucky Department of Agriculture drove its Mobile Science Activity Center onto the Belfry Middle School campus Tuesday.

The mobile unit is part of the department’s community education outreach.

The challenge for the eighth-grade Belfry students was to create a bouncy ball with biodegradable corn plastic.

The students used corn syrup and corn starch to create a liquid, which was then dyed, heated, and dropped into ice water before being rolled into a ball. Those balls, after sitting for a bit, take on the hard consistency of a bouncy ball.

Ray said this type of learning experience is one of the ways GEAR UP aims to better prepare students and keep them engaged.