By Tonya S. Grace tgrace@kentuckynewera.com February 6, 2006

‘Oh, wow!'

Physics program captures interest of students with soda cans, pencils

Fifth-grader Bailey Jo Johnson puts a little static electricity in her hair during a physics presentation last week at Sinking Fork Elementary School. Photo by Tonya S. Grace

The children couldn't resist Lynne Hensley's little pink piggy.

Perched atop a bowl on a table in the school gym, it captured the attention of just about every student who stopped by Hensley's table at Sinking Fork Elementary School.

Many reached over to grab the little pig, and when they did, their fingers touched … absolutely nothing.

The little pink pig wasn't there.

Not really.

Instead, it rested snuggly inside the bowl -- several inches below its domed lid, several inches from an open space where light passed through to the bowl's surface, creating an image of the pig.

"It's that ‘Oh, wow!' moment," Hensley observed while manning her table last week at a daylong "Physics on the Road."

"That's what these things are doing," she said.

A retired science teacher and now curriculum specialist at Sinking Fork, Hensley spent part of her morning Thursday explaining to students how light reflected off the mirrored surfaces of the bowl and its lid, making it look as if the pig was sitting on top of the bowl.

For the youngsters, it was a fun way to learn about physics, while the adults were hoping the program would help spur a lifelong interest and encourage the students to pursue careers in science.

"If we want to stay No. 1 in the world as a leader, we need to be training more kids to go into math and sciences," explained Julie Conlon, an outreach coordinator at Purdue University.

The West Lafayette, Ind., university conducted the recent program at Sinking Fork, as well as additional sessions last week at Highland Elementary School and the Hopkinsville-Christian County Family YMCA. (Conlon also is active with the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry and learned about the local YMCA through the ministry.)

Conlon said her university works with schools regularly through its outreach program, seeking to break down barriers and reduce anxiety among parents, teachers and students who seem to be fearful of learning about science.

By offering an environment where it's safe to explore, everybody becomes comfortable with science, she explained.

"The biggest thing we do at Purdue is listen to the needs of the school," Conlon said. "Our goal is to empower the teacher. If you ask any scientist, usually it's a teacher who got them started."

Conlon said teachers have so much to do that something has to be sacrificed, and she said that something is usually science since teachers don't have the time to devote to science projects.

Teachers today are also overwhelmed by the pressures of having to meet state standards, Conlon said, although she believes it would help if they realized they can address a lot with their studies simply by combining state requirements with their science lessons.

She recalled talking with one classroom teacher who was upset because the tadpoles she was trying to hatch kept dying. But Conlon suggested she use the situation to her advantage, incorporating the dying tadpoles into a yearlong project for the youngsters.

Conlon also recommended that the teacher involve students in the project firsthand, encouraging the children to consider why the tadpoles were dying and to try to find the answer for themselves.

"I don't want teachers to fear that ‘I don't have the answers for the kids,'" she explained. "Let them look at it together."

Talking with youngsters gathered recently in the gym at Sinking Fork, Conlon held up a soup can filled with water and wondered aloud whether a thick sheet of paper placed over the opening would hold in the water when the can was turned upside down.

Showing the students that indeed it would, Conlon began plying them with questions, piquing their interest in the forces of air, gravity and water working on the can.

"Our message for you today is exactly what the president was talking to your family about," she told the youngsters, referring to President Bush's state of the union address last week. "He told (his listeners) that we need more scientists."

Sinking Fork Principal Ann Giles compared the daylong science sessions to a field trip her students might take to a museum.

"They get to experience all the science concepts with hands-on (activities)," Giles explained. "The hands-on is like rebar; it supports every bit of that concrete, the textbook instruction."

Giles said she believes today's students need to be focused on science more since there are so many jobs that involve science.

She noted that there are not enough people in the sciences today, but she also believes activities like her school's recent emphasis on physics will help.

"These are things that kids will remember for a long, long time, and they'll go home and do them," she noted.

Fourth-grade science teacher Brandy Hale said the recent program at Highland Elementary School was yet another opportunity for her students to learn how science connects to the real world.

"It just shows them that there is an outside connection to the world," observed Hale, who described her students as hands-on learners who soak up a lot more when they see science in action.

Hale noted that science also is a part of the core content instruction for fourth-graders and something they will encounter during state accountability exams.

To make it interesting, she invites visiting speakers and incorporates technology, the Internet and other resources into her classroom learning.

The result?

Hale said her students love the subject, and she doesn't have any complaints.

"I think students are seeing that it can be enjoyable," she said. "I see it going in the right direction."

Provided through a grant written by the local YMCA, the recent Purdue University program offered students the opportunity to see demonstrations of science and participate firsthand in experiments at their schools.

At Sinking Fork, it touched on static electricity and other science concepts in the cafeteria, while scores of volunteers manned tables in the adjoining gym.

Experiments set up on the tables showed how science can affect soda cans (a diet drink will float in water while its sugary cousin will sink), pencils (refraction makes the pencil appear bent, or broken, in water) -- and even a little pink pig.

Sinking Fork student Illieona Hallenbeck said she learned several things while visiting the physics tables last week at her school.

"I think science is interesting," observed Hallenbeck, who said the subject is one of her favorites. "You could learn something that maybe nobody's learned before."

TONYA S. GRACE can be reached by telephone at 887-3238 or by e-mail at tgrace@kentuckynewera.com.