Science World on the Road brought its playful approach to science to local schools on Thursday, Feb. 23.
The students of Clearwater Secondary School and Raft River Elementary School were entertained with fun real life examples of concepts they normally see only in textbooks.
Brian Anderson, Sherry Lu and Kristin Lee used household items like a bed of nails (don't we all have one?), rolls of toilet paper and air-filled pop bottles to display the principles of pressure, lift (for a wing) and inertia.
At CSS, a Van de Graaf electrostatic generator was used to display some of the properties of electricity, including how it travels through the human body and down the "Chain of Pain". At RRES, a vacuum bottle with a balloon displayed what it would be like to go into space without a pressure suit.
At Raft River Elementary several activities set for students to participate in during an evening event. They could build paper gliders of various designs or build oboes out of drinking straws. There were door prizes and free books to take home. Highlights of the two evening presentations included a hovercraft built with a leaf blower, and a bottle of coke which nearly hit the ceiling in the gym when mixed with Mentos.
Paper airplane competitions were held at RRES between the presentations. These were to see whose paper glider would go the farthest. Cassie Tucker won the under-eight years old group while Ryan Green won the eight and over group. Each took home a door prize.
Science World on the Road is on of the school-based programs promoted by Science World BC. The Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation sponsored the current tour to local schools to introduce more children to the world of science.