Pacific Science Center comes to Larson Heights
Martian Nava (lfet) and Jaylene Uribe battle it out on the scales. The scales were one of the experiments included in the Pacific Science Center van that visited Larson Heights Elementary Thursday.
MOSES LAKE - The physics of gravity, the physics of light, the physics of sound, the science of physics in general can be, well, downright boring. But it's not boring to sneak a peek around the room with a periscope.
It's not boring at all to learn about sound waves with the help of two cones and plastic tubing. Or to learn about motion with a rotating platform and a spinning wheel.
Pacific Science Center employees were at Larson Heights Elementary School Thursday, with the POW van. The Physics on Wheels van and PSC program brought both classroom lessons and experiments kids could try on their own.
The Pacific Science Center vans bring lessons in basic concepts of science to classrooms. The POW van had experiments that demonstrated what concave and convex lenses do to light, the forces behind wind, the effects of motion on optics.
Each grade level gets its own age-appropriate classroom lesson, according to a science center press release, and there's an all school assembly. Each grade is allowed to play with the experiments. Two pieces of Plexiglass show kids what happens when light bends. A cone and metal washers demonstrate some of the principles of force and gravity.
The Science on Wheels program dates back to the 1970s, and was a way to address the difficulty some classes were having actually getting to the science center, according to the PSC website.