Second-grade students at Woodvale Elementary School listened with rapt attention as Ian Coats, a senior in Dr. Nathan Dolenc鈥檚 EDCI 425 course in the at the University of Louisiana at 69传媒, asked if they knew what acids and bases were.
One mentioned lemons. Another referenced vinegar. Coats affirmed that, yes, lemons and vinegar were acids, then picked up a tea kettle to demonstrate why the question had been posed.
The students waited expectantly to see what would emerge from the kettle into several beakers containing clear liquids lined on a table before Coats. With each tip of the spout, the liquid spilling from the kettle turned the liquid in the beakers different colors 鈥 pink, blue, green and yellow.
The students were mystified. The process spurred a range of comments, questions and quizzical looks. Coats quickly explained to the students that they were witnessing science 鈥 not magic.
The tea kettle contained juice extracted from boiled red cabbage. The juice can be used to indicate pH levels, which determine how acidic or basic water-based solutions are. 鈥淚t turns acids red or pink, and it turns bases into a blue or green or even yellow color,鈥 Coats explained.
Coats was among a group of students enrolled in EDCI 425 鈥 or 鈥淪cience in the Elementary School鈥 鈥 course who visited Woodvale on Thursday to perform a range of science demonstrations. Woodvale students had the opportunity to participate in some of them.
For one experiment, rubber balloons were brushed across their heads to produce static electricity. 鈥淐harged鈥 balloons then placed near an empty aluminum can moved the can because of the static electricity.
During another experiment, students were amazed when sharpened pencils pushed through plastic Ziploc bags filled with water failed to cause a leak. The process demonstrated the properties of polymers, flexible chains of molecules that give the bags elasticity. The bags didn鈥檛 leak because the polymers quickly sealed around the pencils.
The second-graders aren鈥檛 the only ones who benefit from the exercises. The 鈥渇ield experiences,鈥 enable UL 69传媒 to practice conducting lessons in a classroom setting, where they can gauge audience reaction and levels of engagement.
鈥淔or a lot of them, this is the first science lesson they鈥檝e ever taught. So, they have an opportunity to gain confidence and are able to build on this experience,鈥 said Dolenc, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Photo caption: Ian Coats, right, a student in Dr. Nathan Dolenc鈥檚 EDCI 425 course at UL 69传媒, taught second-grade students at Woodvale Elementary School about the pH levels of acids and bases during a recent science demonstration at the school. Photo credit: Doug Dugas / University of Louisiana at 69传媒