[August 22, 2011] Students get charge out of science Tweet WESTWOOD, Aug 22, 2011 (The Daily Independent - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Touching a metal globe from which a spark had just jumped like a lightning bolt was the last thing Taylor Metzler wanted to do. But with all her eighth-grade classmates urging her on, she didn't think she had much choice. Right hand on the ball, said Rich Cadwell, moderator for the demonstration of the Van de Graaff generator. Left hand in your pocket -- if you wave it around too much during the demonstration you just might zap yourself in the face. Now Taylor was worried. But she stood her ground. Cadwell flipped the switch to power up the machine, which builds up a heavy charge of electricity. The charge jumps with a sizzling flash from the shiny basketball-sized globe to another ball the size of a grapefruit. With the girl's hand planted on the globe and the electrical charge coursing through, her hair stuck out like a frightened cartoon character's. "It was scary and weird. It was electrical," she said later. More than that, it was educational. "It's cool. It will help kids learn more if they learn how to do it with their bodies," she said. Cadwell is a traveling educator for the National Science Center, which brought its Mobile Discovery Center to Fairview Middle School on Thursday. He and his associate, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Henry Ayala, drive the custom-equipped 18-wheeler around the country putting on demonstrations of scientific principles. Ayala is on board because the mobile exhibit is a collaboration between the army and the NSC. In fast-paced and often comical 45-minute sessions, Cadwell and Ayala touch on topics like electrical conduction, the periodic table of elements and magnetism, with a shout-out to Nikola Tesla, whose research on electricity led to the widespread use of alternating current. Cadwell is the first to say it isn't an exhaustive education. Rather, it is an introduction designed to get children excited about science. "They get so excited they don't realize they're learning," he said. The program works with boys and girls at all educational levels, and they leave using the language of science, said Valerie Ellis, a science teacher at Fairview Middle. She doesn't expect the demonstrations to take the place of classroom work. Instead, she hopes what the children see in the truck will simmer in their brains and come back up later on when she covers those topics in class. The visit is free and Ellis is happy about that because a small district like Fairview can't swing the investment necessary to get equipment like Van de Graaff generators and Tesla coils. But hardware is an important teaching aid for kids who are so often visual and tactile learners. "They're concrete thinkers and need to see it and touch it to understand it," Ellis said. The exhibit last came to the area in 2006. Its popularity keeps its schedule full and there is typically a five-year backlog. MIKE JAMES can be reached at [email protected] or (606) 326-2652. ___ (c)2011, The Daily Independent (Ashland, Ky.) To see more of The Daily Independent (Ashland, Ky.), or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.dailyindependent.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]