Electricity (Again)
This lesson was a one-off for a 6th grade class that had been asking to join in all of last week (the classrooms aren't big enough!), with the school principal, a group of teachers, and a local news journalist watching. The kids loved it, and wanted more lessons, leaving me regretting not making the trip longer. I even spoke to some of the teachers, who said that they had never seen science taught in a hands-on manner before! Clearly, the problem was systematic. One teacher even joked that if the lessons were like this the kids would never want to leave school!
In today's lesson, the class learned about electrons, how they flow to create electric current, and about conductors and insulators. Using their new knowledge, they created electrical circuits using various foodstuffs as power supplies to power a clock in order to find out which ones were conductors and which ones were insulators for a scientific experiment. Some children even figured out how to power the clock using their own bodies (again)!
All in all, this trip has really opened my eyes to just how much a better science education is needed in the region. It's clear that the kids benefitted so much from the experience, but this school is not the only school that suffers from these shortcomings. Now that I have confirmed that the kids would enjoy and take value from a better STEM education, it's time to expand this project so that I can have a greater impact.
