On April 2, 2018 Chaminade Scientists and undergraduate science students visited Wilson Elem School 5th graders.

Students practiced personal protective measures by wearing a lab coat and safety glasses.

Students were given a battery, copper wire and a magnet to build a simple electric motor.

The students were asked to design a plan for a motor. Then build the motor based on their plan. Test the motor. Make adjustments and redesign to produce a working motor.

They quickly discovered that it can be more challenging than expected to build what seams to be a simple product.

In the process of building their motor, they learnt simple properties of physics. But most importantly they learnt resiliency and that they learn the most when they encounter problems that they have to solve.

They shared that the process was “frustrating”, but when they got the motor to work they were “super happy, excited”, and they felt good about what they accomplished.

We shared with them that working in research is very similar to what they experienced. Many of our experiments do not come out the way we expect them to, but we learn a lot from every experiment.

Click here to visit the Wilson Elementary School 5th graders, 2 April 2018 Photo Gallery