From left: NY Giant Henry Hynoski, Liberty Science Center CEO Paul Hoffman, NY Giant Bear Pascoe.

New Jersey and New York area fifth graders learned about the differences that make them unique and the similarities that bring them together as part of the NFL’s diversity program “One World: Connecting Communities, Cultures, and Classrooms.” Today, 10 classes who have been communicating with each other through pen-pal letters met for the first time.

CEO Paul Hoffman welcomes the students to Liberty Science Center.

Together, they participated in a series of workshops that incorporated both science and cultural themes. Students also had the opportunity to learn more about their pen pals and interact with NY Giants players Bear Pascoe and Henry Hynoski.

STEM Educational programs included:

• A Matter of Clime – Students will explore monthly averages of temperature and precipitation with our digital globes and colorful NASA imagery. They will look for patterns in this data and think about how we define climate. How does our climate compare to different cities around the world? How does the NYC/NJ climate compare to other regions’ climates across the world?

• Pump it up – It’s what’s inside that counts! No matter what you look like on the outside, your insides are all alike! Did you know that your heart beats over 100,000 times in a day? Ever wonder how many miles of blood vessels are in the human body? Explore how this vital body system keeps you alive, and all that you have in common on the inside with your peers.

• Mystery Muscles – Students learn about their muscles – something everyone’s body has in common! Students will use their muscles to perform different movements and observe the difference between flexion and extension.

• Sportacular – What’s your favorite sport? Swimming, soccer, football or golf, they all have one thing in common, science!!! Newton’s Laws and other physics topics are demonstrated using sports equipment. Volunteers will participate in a momentum race, the audience will learn how a pitcher makes a baseball curve and will watch our very own science educator demonstrate concepts related to helmet safety by lying on a sharp bed of nails. No tricks or illusions here, just pure science fun.

Local schools participating in the One World event came from New Jersey and New York. They were: South Street School (Newark, NJ); Memorial Middle School (Little Ferry, NJ); Calabro School (Little Ferry, NJ); Robert L. Craig Elementary (Moonachie, NJ); Samsel Upper Elementary School (Parlin, NJ); P.S. 069 Journey Prep School (Bronx, NY); P.S. 119 Amersfort (Brooklyn, NY); P.S. 029 Bardwell (Staten Island, NY); P.S. 254 — The Rosa Parks School (Queens, NY) and P.S. 024 (Brooklyn, NY).

Check out LSC on Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ for more photos and video from the day, and don’t forget to visit Gridiron Glory open now through March 2!