Holiday Science Lecture: Powerful Potential - The Gift of Energy a Big Hit!
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PRISM/PCCM's 3rd annual Holiday Science Lecture with Prof. Howard Stone and special guest Prof. Bonnie Bassler was a huge success on Saturday, December 17, 2011. This year's theme was energy, and there was quite a bit to go around at the event. Children and their families joined our faculty to learn.
In addition to some awesome explosions and Prof. Bassler peddling on a bike to light up lights, nearly 600 people in the audience made their own lemon batteries to light a holiday-red LED during the show. Each family was given a kit with 3 lemons and limes, some wires, zinc, copper and an LED (light emitting diode). With instruction from PCCM's education director Dan Steinberg, nearly everyone was able to light their little red light, something never attempted on this campus before on such a scale.
Balloons went flying at this event. Prof. Stone also explained potential and kinetic energy. Every member of the audience was given a balloon and instructed to blow it up, giving it potential energy, and then release it, with wild kinetic results.