“We want to connect what they’re studying with the world around them—the air they breathe, the weather they feel. All of these things have roots that physics helps explain,”
– Professor Luke Donforth
UVM endeavors to connect our subject material directly to the lives of the people we teach—even before the start of the semester. On Tuesday, January 6, forty sixth-grade students from Lyman C. Hunt Middle School took advantage of a mostly empty UVM campus to visit the STEM Complex for science demonstrations hosted by the Physics and Chemistry Departments.
In their regular classes, the students are studying forces, motion, and matter. Teachers Ms. Chayer and Ms. Singh brought their students to the local college campus to take advantage of the equipment and expertise available for more expansive and elaborate demonstrations. Professor Luke Donforth from the Physics Department led a collection of demonstrations and hands-on activities, ranging from racing balls and cloud formation to a ping-pong ball cannon.
“We know they’re working on forces, so we wanted to connect what they’re studying with the world around them—the air they breathe, the weather they feel. All of these things have roots that physics helps explain,” Dr. Donforth said, adding, “We also want to get them excited by safely blowing up a few things.” He was assisted by Patrick Charron and Sam Beauchemin, members of the College of Engineering’s lecture and lab support team.
Travis Verret, Chemistry’s safety officer and lab manager, was also on hand. In this case, “on hand” meant “fire on your hand,” as he wowed students by safely setting their teachers’ hands on fire. “We want them to see there are a lot of fun things they can do, and the more they learn, the more they can do safely,” said Verret. He was aided in the gleeful explosions and dissolutions by chemistry staff member Jacqueline Chant. Experienced educators in both formal and informal settings, they enjoy hosting these and other school groups.
From a big-picture perspective, the adults involved know that while it’s important for sixth graders to get excited about what they’re studying and see connections to their own lives, it’s also important for them to experience a college campus and envision themselves there. Bringing them to UVM will hopefully plant seeds—not only about what they can study, but also where their education might take them. We hope to see them back in these same classrooms in the future, perhaps even helping the next generation get excited about science.
