LAWRENCE: Youngsters learn science and have fun, too

”How do you cut fruit,” the Fruit Ninja asked the children, as he swung his fake sword back and forth.

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   ”How do you cut fruit,” the Fruit Ninja asked the children, as he swung his fake sword back and forth.
   ”With a knife,” answered one little boy.
   The Fruit Ninja — a Lawrence High School student dressed in a black costume — nodded in agreement. Then, he pointed to the clear plastic tube and the blade at the bottom of it. He picked up an apple and held it over the tube.
   ”I feel bad for that apple,” another child said as he watched the Fruit Ninja drop the apple down the tube. The blade sliced it in half.
   The point of the exercise was not that Fruit Ninjas hate fruit and enjoy slicing and dicing it. It’s that there are two types of energy — potential energy and kinetic energy. Holding the apple above the blade is potential energy; the apple in motion is kinetic energy.
   For two nights last week, young children learned science lessons based on video games such as Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, Pokemon and Forza, thanks to students in Lawrence High School’s Academy of Science and Technology’s STEM Club.
   Children and their parents wandered from classroom to classroom at the high school, as STEM Club members portrayed characters from the video games or used them as a jumping-off point to explain scientific concepts in a fun way.
   Lawrence High students in the STEM Club have put together a “science night” for several years, aiming to generate excitement about science among the children. This year, the theme was video games.
   ”It’s one of our biggest outreach efforts every year,” said STEM Club member Sujay Shetty. “It’s to get the children excited about science. It’s a great way to get Lawrence High School students involved, as well.”
   Last year, the STEM Club’s science night theme was superheroes and how they get their power. And the year before that, it was Willie Wonka Science Night. The children learned about food science and the importance of eating good food.
   Meanwhile, in the Forza game room, high school students demonstrated Isaac Newton’s three laws of physics. They used remote-controlled cars and a battery on top of the car to show what happens when the car stops suddenly. (Hint – it involves the battery.)
   Forza is a racing simulation game, and the children had a chance to play with the cars. The STEM students put a battery on top of the cars and turned the controller over to the children.
   ”Yeah, oh yeah,” a young boy said as the car raced across the room.
   When the car crashed into a cardboard box, the car stopped and the battery kept moving — which illustrated Newton’s first law of physics that states an object in motion stays in motion. That’s the reason why drivers and passengers wear seatbelts, a STEM Club member told the children.
   Forza was one of Chris Casole’s favorite stops on the video game tour.
   ”It has the cars. I learned that some cars drive faster than others. I liked the Fruit Ninja, too. I learned about kinetic energy,” said Chris, who attended the STEM Club’s science night with his two brothers.