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COSI visits Lynn Kirk
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During Lynn Kirk's COSI on Wheels presentation on Jan. 25, Lily Tirado (center) enjoyed herself at the extreme weather activity table. She was given instructions to dress for a heat wave, and chose sunglasses and a tank top to be prepared for the theoretical weather.
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COSI representative Joe Butler (left), before letting the kids wander to activity stations, asked the students to be polite, not run between stations, and remember to have fun.
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To feel the powerful force of air pressure, the students were asked to place their arm in a vacuum sleeve. PTA volunteer Jill Owen (right) controlled the vacuum, and surprised Logan Melton (left) as he felt the pressure.
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Clouds are formed in places that have great fluctuations of air pressure. At the cloud-making station, students like Nevaeh Walton (right) worked a bike pump to create high pressure and then let go. The change in pressure created a cloud in the canister.
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In another air pressure demonstration, students were asked to pull apart two rounded plastic pieces. After students like Trent Pregi (center) realized it was impossible, it was explained that taking air out the center of the spheres created 400 pounds of pressure holding them together.
By SARAH FOOR
Thanks to a presentation by COSI, the students and staff at Lynn Kirk witnessed the perfect storm on Jan. 25.
The Center for Science and Industry (COSI) and its “Current Conditions” science presentation visited the school’s all-purpose room to explain everything students needed to know about air pressure, clouds, weather events, and lightning, and even showed them some of the processes in action.
COSI representative Joe Butler hosted a small assembly where he created clouds with liquid nitrogen, and showed off an impressive lightning machine.
“The Lynn Kirk students were great listeners, and during the presentation, they just had a great time. That’s really what it’s all about,” reflected Butler after the assembly.
Once the show wrapped up, two classrooms at a time explored eight hands-on learning activities manned by PTA volunteers. Favorite stations were the extreme weather table, where kids had to answer trivia and dress themselves for weather events, and the vacuum sleeve, where air was siphoned out of a plastic sleeve so the students could feel the weight of air pressure.
“COSI’s goal is to make science really fun,” explained Butler.
“When the kids are having a great time, they’re often learning without knowing it.”