This week, three of Oak Harbor’s elementary schools were filled with more than just students — these kids were engineers in training. And things were kicking into high gear Thursday at Olympic View Elementary School.

In the morning, teachers from Pacific Science Center’s Science on Wheels program were busy entertaining a gymnasium full of students. The agenda for the day was putting a fun twist on engineering and the students were just getting geared up. Talk was filled with big words such as aeronautical engineering, but the faces weren’t filled with confusion — just pure laughter and smiles.

“Do you want to see us launch this bottle rocket?” the Science Center staff asked the kids as the gym filled with a clamor of cheers.

The visit was made possible by the Pacific Science Center’s Science on Wheels educational traveling van program. According to a release from the Science Center, the engineering van — which is what visited Oak Harbor’s Crescent Harbor, Oak Harbor and Olympic View elementaries — is equipped to help students design, test and redesign while exploring the world of gears, machines, buildings and circuits. Each school visit includes an assembly to introduce the kids to the fun, classroom lessons and hands-on exhibits in the schools’ libraries.

The science vans began touring Washington schools in 1974 as a response to fuel shortages — if the schools couldn’t coordinate field trips to the Science Center, then the science would come to them. The five vans each focus on a different scientific field (engineering, physics, space, etc.) and travel to all 39 counties in the state. During the 2004-2005 school year visited 134,486 students, teachers and adults.

“It’s so interactive and the kids get so excited about it,” said kindergarten teacher Jeff Hume. “Come on, science is just fun.”