Traveling science exhibit inspires next generation of visionaries
Linda Sappington
A spinning turntable, part of the University of Montana’s spectrUM program, sparks children’s interest.
Linda Sappington
Finley Johnson, fifth grade, explores magnets during family science night at Linderman gym.
Linda Sappington
A gyroscope moves second-grader Remy Maaliki.
Linda Sappington
Students explore the Bernoulli Blower.
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
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Future physicists explored motion in a 10-ring circus of twirling, spinning and flying object lessons during Linderman Elementary School’s family science night March 21.
The hands-on learning stations in the “Motion” exhibit were brought by the University of Montana’s mobile spectrUM program in an effort to expose young children to the joy of science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers, commonly called STEM.
The evening event followed classroom exploration of nanoscience using science kits, according to Allison Mueller, a UM physics major who hopes the fun science play will also “inspire a desire for self-driven learning.”
The catalyst for Mueller’s career choice was her love of both the natural word and mathematics.
“Physics literally is those two things, together,” Mueller said.
The children twirling tops, flinging wheels on a spinning turntable and levitating paper cups beneath a blower were likely unaware of complexities of physics, yet were clearly fascinated.
“Each station teaches a different concept,” teacher Karyl Lozar explained.
For instance, the turntable combines gyroscopic motion with angular inertia as students see that most discs or wheels will fall over when motionless, but are more stable when their rim is moving. Students understand this concept related to riding a bike — the wheels become wobbly when riding very slowly.
In a nearby station, a smaller turntable allowed children to see how a gyroscope, used for navigation in airplanes and spacecraft, can physically move their whole body. By standing on the disc and tilting a spinning bike wheel in their hands, their bodies began to rotate on the turntable in the direction of the tilt.
Other learning stations fostering young curiosity included a penny-eating gravity well, a Bernoulli Blower, a flight simulator and a hands-on exploration of magnets, nanosurfaces, electrical currents, and ultraviolet light.
Onward and Upward, a relatively new local non-profit, covered the $1,500 price tag of the traveling exhibit. The organization’s goal is to bolster youth entrepreneurship and interest in technical sciences, according to president Kendra Mullison.
“This is the first major event we’ve sponsored,” Mullison said.
The traveling spectrUM exhibit — which was also in Ronan schools March 17 — was offered in partnership with SciNation, a STEM community advisory group made up of representatives from the Flathead Indian Reservation.
With Linderman staff focusing on bringing more science-related events to the school, they hope to offer similar events more frequently, according to Lozar.
“Science never gets old,” Lozar said.
