Teachers moved along the table selecting flashlight batteries, compasses and nails. The 48 middle and high school teachers went to work, making electromagnets to pick up paper clips and circuits to light tiny bulbs. The whole time they were looking for experiments to take back to their school laboratories. Dennis Manos, a College of William and Mary professor leading the workshop. The program is designed to improve science education by providing hands-on activities for the classroom.
Teachers attend morning workshops conducted by professors from Virginia's colleges.
They spend the afternoon working on research projects with scientists. She has spent the last four weeks working on a method of cooling materials to super low temperatures using liquid helium. Manos moved through the room, watching as teachers broke into groups. Six teachers bowed over one table holding wires and flashlight batteries to string a circuit that would light tiny bulbs. Nearby a group was testing their electromagnet, made with a nail, a battery and a piece of wire.