Holly Springs students gain hands-on education

Despite cold temperatures and the threat of wintery weather, students at Holly Springs Elementary School kept warm as they learned about heat and energy Tuesday with the help of Georgia Power.

The program, called “Learning is Power: Energy Education in the Classroom,” coincides with Common Core Georgia Performance Standards in science, mathematics and language arts with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. The program, including experiment materials, is provided to schools by Georgia Power at no cost.

Third- and fifth-grade students experienced hands-on activities led by Georgia Power Education Coordinator Deborah Pendergrass during the session. The first activity required the children to rub their hands together to create friction.

“Energy is doing work and creating heat,” Pendergrass said to Bridget Barker’s third-grade students. She then instructed them to raise their hands up — making everyone feel the cold air and how heat transfers.

Students then talked about places in their homes that the air temperature outside could affect the air temperature inside. “I picked the ceiling because I feel more air when I go up to my attic,” said Austin Morris, son of Greg and Kylee Morris of Woodstock.

Other experiments included measuring the temperature of hot water in one cup with a lid and another cup without a lid with a Celsius thermometer. Later, students measured which cup of water lost the most heat.

“The lid served as an insulator,” Pendergrass said.

The students also got to participate in an “ice race,” where they hypothesized whether a conductor or an insulator would melt the ice first. “The conductor expands the heat, gets hotter and melts the ice quicker,” Blake Cantrell, grandson of Melinda Duncan of Canton, said.

At the end of the experiment, students received bookmarks with energy efficient tips to take home with them. Principal Dr. Dianne Steinbeck said she could not emphasize how valuable the hands-on scientific experiments were for Holly Springs students. She said since the school was selected to be a STEM academy for fall 2012, projects like this are only a preview of what is to come.

“We are converting space to become our new science lab,” Steinbeck said. “It’s all about opportunity, and the fact that Georgia Power is doing this at no cost is tremendous.”