THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504290103
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
``Have you had lunch yet?'' Alan Rowe asked a group of eager Greenbrier Intermediate School students, holding up a dull green object with wires hanging from either end.
``I have a dill pickle here,'' he said.
The chemistry professor from Norfolk State University plugged one of the wires into an electrical outlet and asked his assistant to turn off the lights. The pickle began to fizz, then lit up.
A collective ``Wow!'' filled the room.
``It's a chemical reaction,'' Rowe explained. ``The molecules in the pickle are reacting.''
The ``pickle light'' was part of an event called ``Super Science Wednesday'' which included scientists from the College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, Hampton University and Virginia Power Co., teachers from the Chesapeake Center for Science and Technology and Virginia Beach public schools.
Throughout the morning, third, fourth and fifth graders at Greenbrier Intermediate School learned that science can be fun.
``I want to introduce the children to chemistry,'' Rowe said. ``I want to help them to understand how molecules, which you can't see, interact. Science isn't just for real smart kids. We want to counter some of those notions.''
``This is like my day of the year,'' said Linda Sherbinsky, the Greenbrier Intermediate fifth-grade teacher who has organized the event for the past five years.
``This is different from a science fair, where the children's work is exhibited,'' she said. ``The experts actually came to us.
``We touched on a lot of subjects in a very basic way. The scientists came to us and gave detailed answers to help children begin to see things from a different perspective.
``We wanted it to be a day where we could wow the kids. If we can turn one child on to science, then the whole day was worth it.''
All the regular morning classes at the school were canceled so students could participate. Teachers drew lots to determine which of three sessions their students would attend.
The sessions covered biochemistry, hunting and science, TV special effects, planets, rockets, oceanography, geology, life in space, experiments with liquid nitrogen and fish printing, using a real fish.
Volunteers helped Debbie Bebout and Eric Dawnkaski from the College of William and Mary prepare cups containing a pastel mixture. The formula called for one ounce of Elmer's glue, one tablespoon of 4 percent Borax and food coloring.
The children stirred the sticky goo, then scooped it into their hands for squishing, mashing and rolling. In less than 15 minutes students were bouncing their elastic-like ``polymers'' on the floor.
Bryan Deamer of the Virginia Air and Space Center included a real space suit in his display.
``Did you know that folks who travel in space have to take food, water, oxygen and tools with them? Do you know how many groceries you guys eat in two weeks?''
``A lot,'' was the response.
``When eight people go into a space shuttle for two weeks, the food has to be made smaller,'' he said. ``We dry it up by taking the water out. In space, when they're ready to eat, they add water to their food.''
He passed around a paper tray containing ``pieces'' of ice cream from which water had been removed. Next, he held up a chocolate brownie that had been dehydrated in 1972.
``When you remove water, the food doesn't go bad. It could last 400 or 500 years.''
Holding a model of a space shuttle, Deamer pointed out where the crew lives.
``From the nose way on back, that's a recycling center,'' he said indicating the area on the model.
A lot of youngsters responded ``Yuck'' when he explained that in space, water which has been used for showers is cleansed and filtered, then used for drinking water.
In another room, E.T. Nettles, a representative of the National Rifle Association showed a video of a big game hunt. He displayed preserved animals, including a bobcat, a weasel, an African leopard and a Canadian wolverine.
``We had just done a unit on saving the earth,'' Sherbinsky said. ``We wanted to bring the students to a higher level of thinking about the earth, about animals and why people hunt and do the things they do.''
Representatives from the Continuous Electronic Beam Acceleration Facility (CEBAF) in Hampton gave a presentation in conjunction with Hampton University using liquid nitrogen, which can chill an object to minus 300 degrees.
Of the three sessions they attended, fifth-graders Harman Dhillon, Becky Edwards and Ashley Hill all liked the session about liquid nitrogen best.
``It was interesting to see things freeze and what happens to them,'' Ashley said. ``Some things broke. Some stayed the same. But all got really cold.''
Students saw how sub-zero cold can change different substances such as flowers, balloons, a piece of string, a Ping-Pong ball and even the presenter's donut. Everything, except the balloon, shattered into many pieces. First, the balloon shrank. But when it had reached room temperature, it returned to its original size and shape.
``The boys and girls had such neat questions about things they had never thought about before,'' Sherbinsky said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Alan Rowe, a chemistry professor from Norfolk State University, lit
up a pickle for the class at Greenbrier Intermediate School.
by CNB