Page 7 - Priorities 3

attracts objects in a predictable way whether the mat- ter is one sand grain, one star, or one gymnast, he points out.
Movie Science
“I save video movie clips that show science prin- ciples. It’s a hobby of mine. In some of the best mov- ies,thescienceisabsolutefantasy. Ilovetoshowthe clips to students and ask them to figure out what is goodscienceandwhatisimpossiblescience,” he says cheerfully.
The makers of the film “2001” were paying atten- tion in science class. In one small scene (where the Russian and the American astronauts are boarding an unmanned spacecraft near Jupiter’s moon, Io) the film manages to correctly illustrate many basic phys- ics principles ranging from sound waves to inertia.
In “Predator I,” Arnold Schwarzenegger is saved because the alien standing right in front of him can’t see him. Arnold is covered in cold mud and the alien’ssensorysystemisonly heat-based,which reallywouldmakeArnoldinvisibletothealien. (The film is rated “R” but the mud scene Paul uses seems to be a “G.”)
On the other hand, when the portly gentleman gets sucked through the high-flying airplane window in “Goldfinger” ... Sorry, this is not an accurate depic- tion of the change in air pressure that would occur whenthebulletpiercesthewindow. Therapidpres- sure drop, which supposedly moved the man, apparently didn’t affect the air in the cabin at all, because the actors continued to breathe normally. A dramatic drop in pressure would force a rapid flow of air out of the cabin but it is highly unlikely that it could force the gentleman through an opening small- er than he was.
Also, the condensation of water vapor which occurs in rapid pressure decrease — you can see it when you slightly loosten the cap from a soda bottle, if you watch carefully — did not occur in the plane; there was no cloud obstructing the view.
“On the topic of water, let me tell you something interesting you can do,” Paul continues.
“If you strip negatively charged electrons from your hair with a balloon, the balloon can stick to a wall. You have probably done that experiment. You
can do the same type of experiment using a comb and water. After combing through your hair, the neg- atively charged comb will attract a tiny stream of water. You can see this effect by holding the comb about one centimeter from the water — the water will bend a little bit towards the comb.
“It’s fun to ask students what would happen to the water stream if we held their positively charged hair, the hair they just combed, one centimeter away. Most will hypothesize that the water will now move away from the positive charge, which is logical.
“I usually do not tell students what happens. I have them go home and actually try it. But I’ll tell you — the water doesn’t move away. It is attracted to the hair because water is a polar molecule, having a negative end and a positive end.
“That means water can be attracted to positively and negatively charged objects. It mixes so well with other molecules that it is called the universal solvent. Without water, there probably could have been no primordial soup, and evolution may not have taken place.”
You can build a faster bike, throw a better curve ball, hit a more powerful tennis return, and get a more thrilling thrill ride by understanding the basics of physical laws. This year, Paul hopes to take his classes to the Exploratorium or to Physics Day at Great America — a non-traditional approach that can awaken a genuine sense of the joy in science among people who don’t feel joyful when they just read the numbers.
Paul Trudelle, a science teacher for about 20 years, enjoys students from preschool through high school. He is faculty advi- sor to the Priory’s National Honor Society and the Science/ Astronomy Club, and he holds after-school drop-in for science enthusiasts. Studentsknowhimbestforhislegendarytry-it- yourself projects — from egg drops and paper bridges to “sing- ing” the periodic table of the elements.
C. Dobervich
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“I love to show movie video clips to students and let them figure out what is good science and what is impossible science...”