How can a fully inflated, air-tight balloon shrivel to a third its original size and fill with water, then be reinflated and the water evaporated simply by blowing on it?
Don”t know? Your kindergartner might be able to help you out.
The answer: When it”s condensed by the extreme cold (-320 degrees) of liquid nitrogen.
Students at Stokes-Beard Elementary Technology and Communication Magnet School learned about liquid nitrogen, along with combustion and chemistry, Monday, thanks to a pair of visiting presenters from the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Ala.
The McWane Center, a regular field trip destination for Columbus Municipal School District elementary students, exists to “improve lives through science and wonder and create a unique science learning experience,” said Lawrence Cooper, one of Monday”s presenters and the center”s director of environmental education and outreach.
If smiles and shrieks of excitement equal a unique science learning experience, Cooper and co-presenter Tiffany Bishop did their jobs.
“Today we”re doing ”Science with a Bang,” explained Cooper. “All our programs are based on national science education standards, so (the students) have already talked about or will talk about these processes in class. Illustrating these and other standards they”ll be tested on helps make a connection between science experiments and things they”re already dealing with.”
Talking to the students after the presentation, one might think national science standards have seriously deviated in recent years.
“My favorite part was when he made the elephant toothpaste go up,” said second-grader Genesa Williams of Cooper”s bubbly concoction of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, dish detergent and food coloring.
Williams was underwhelmed by the liquid nitrogen, offering a nonchalant, yet coincidentally astute, “It was pretty cool.”
Fellow second-grader Ann Chapman was sold on science as “creative fun.”
“It was awesome,” she gushed after the first of two presentations from the McWane crew. “He popped a balloon with air in it and put a firework in water and it didn”t go out and he made elephant toothpaste.”
Bishop said the presentations accomplished the duo”s goals to the letter.
“It”s very rare you get to see them scream and holler when they”re learning something,” she said. “It feels good to be the one to present that and maybe spark an interest in science.”
That”s exactly why Stokes-Beard reached out to the McWane Center, according to Principal Pam Lenoir.
“Their reputation as far as science goes and things they could bring to get children interested over the next nine days was a big plus,” she said.
Success Academy
The nine days Lenoir referred to are Success Academy days, an extended school year program at both Stokes-Beard and Sale Elementary International Studies Magnet School. The program adds 18 additional school days — nine per semester — onto the school year for extra instruction and enrichment activities like the McWane visit. Every day, students will be given an out-of-the-ordinary learning opportunity, including field trips, presentations and hands-on activities.
Sale kicked off its Success Academy Monday with Multicultural Day at Mississippi University for Women.
Success days are funded by federal stimulus money to the CMSD. Stokes-Beard and Sale were chosen for the program based on districtwide interest surveys distributed among teachers and parents.
The success calendar was introduced as a proactive response to the new Mississippi Accountability Model requiring increased standards for Mississippi”s public school students. Research indicates two ways to make exponential change in student achievement are to increase student time and small group instruction.
The fall Success Academy was highly successful based on comments from teachers, parents and students, according to the district. Test data collected prior to the Success Academy compared to data collected after the academy showed significant gains in a wide cross section of both student peer groups.
“Student achievement is the focus of Columbus School District and our Success Calendar is another way to give our students every opportunity to be successful and excel academically,” said Del Phillips, CMSD superintendent.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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