Thirkill Elementary explodes with STEM!
Principal Worthington introduces William and Abby to Thirkill.
Last week, students of Thirkill elementary were visited by students from Idaho State University’s Physics department program, as part of ongoing STEM outreach to the communities in Southeast Idaho.
William King and Abby Shipley worked together throughout the day to provide a hands-on discussion and demonstration with students about the “states of matter.” For many parents out there, this will mean “solid, liquid, and gas.” There are generally, however, considered to be four main states of matter, with “plasma” constituting the fourth. As King noted, plasma is actually the most common state in the known universe, as it accounts for the composition of the trillions of stars in the night sky and beyond.
With the overall concept that states of matter are determined by how much motion exists in the substance in a given temperature, the pair went through various means of demonstrating the effects of different forces on demonstration objects including candle flames, rubber balls, flowers, balloons, and more.
Students were as eager as always to raise their hands and engage in discussion, and the presenters commented on how the students seemed very well informed for their ages.
Because the demonstration involved a certain amount of fire and occasional explosions, the level of interest remained quite high. If you have ever met a child, you can imagine how thrilled a large group of them was to see a small hydrogen balloon burst into momentary flame.
“I love seeing them just get excited about what we have to show them,” King said.
“Kids are naturally interested in science,” Shipley added. “They are great to work with.”
The two presented many demonstrations to the students.
Demonstrations included making predictions about what would happen to balloons exposed to flame and then to CO2, what would happen to a flower frozen in liquid nitrogen, how a bouncy ball would react to being frozen, what happens to marshmallows in a vacuum, how liquid nitrogen reacts to a room temperature environment, and much more. The roughly 45 minute presentation (including breaks for the students to regain their composure) was filled from front to back with engaged learning and interesting matter. In four states.
