Posted November 1, 2017

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – Practical, show-and-tell demonstrations can attract students to science and engineering.

 

A group of 84 eighth grade students from Lubbock-based Terra Vista Middle School belonging to Frenship ISD visited the Nonwovens and Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University last Friday. . The school is situated in the middle of cotton fields and the students see cotton just outside their school ready to be harvested during the cotton season.

 

The students were shown practical demonstrations on how raw cotton nonwoven fabric picks up motor oil. Two teachers who accompanied the students did hands-on experiments as well.

 

In the group was five-year-old Ellie Sledge, daughter of social science teacher Joseph Sledge, who was so eager to visit laboratories. As the lecture demonstration began, responding to a question from this scribe, Ellie spotted cotton and said, “fluffy.”

 

Her father Joseph mentioned that such enthusiasm will lead students to choose science fields for their careers. This is what the school sets out to do every year to encourage students in science and mathematics subjects. 

 

A presentation about the applications of cotton nonwovens such as oil-absorbents pads was shown, which was documented in a YouTube video. One teacher who was from Louisiana recollected the Gulf of Mexico oil spill incident and said that such developments are beneficial to the community.

 

While seeing cotton instantaneously picking up oil from oil-water mixture, Kristina Janeway, the English teacher who accompanied the students, said, “It is a complete win-win for the environment.”

 

Students and teachers could connect their daily lives with science, which is the highlight of such field trips and lecture-demonstrations.

 

The cotton industry tries to reach out to consumers and create awareness of the advantages of cotton. Reaching out to middle and high school students, who are the future independent consumers, should be part of that marketing equation, as well.

 

It was pleasing to see the curiosity and interest in students for science experiments. Interacting with middle and high school students is a learning experience for college professors as well.

 

It is becoming clear that field trips and laboratory visits are ways to attract school children to careers in science and engineering.

 

Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D, FTA (honorary), is a professor at the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech.