Walking into the Med Sci auditorium on Sunday afternoon I expected a scene of total anarchy. What else could be expected of a roomful of children-aged seven to 12-being forced to sit still for an hour for a lecture on physics? Mutiny, I had thought, was inevitable.
Yet Ontario Science Centre educator Russell Zeid rose above the odds, capturing the attention of adults and children alike, with the aid of his Tickle Trunk of toys. Zeid explained Newton’s third law of motion by projecting a plastic bottle thirty feet vertically using compressed air; he taught the concept of air pressure by levitating a beach ball over a leaf blower; he showed how energy converts to different forms like light, sound, and heat by striking together one rusty and one aluminum covered ball and sending sparks flying across the stage, much to the delight and shock of the audience.
Behind his antics, though, Zeid has a very specific goal. “[I want] to bring science to the masses… to make science more understandable, a lot more fun. I think that if you can learn through humour, it sticks.” But he assumed a sober countenance as his lecture wound down, challenging the audience: “We have the best computer in the entire planet conveniently right inside our skull… That’s your job. To go out there, to ask questions, to program that wonderful piece of organic computing machine.” Well said Zeid; and well received. -Jennifer Bates
