A Life of Wonder (06-25-07)
Adams State Professors Inspire a New Generation to the Magic of Science
In the comfort of his modest office, Dr. Rob Benson effortlessly hovers 2,012 miles above the continental United States for several seconds before descending like a meteorite on the New England coast.
"There it is," Benson says with a hint of hometown pride as he points to a location on his computer screen, which has just taken him on a digitized supersonic journey from Adams State's campus across the Midwest plains to an eagle-eye view of his childhood home. The "it" Benson refers to is hidden from view under a canopy of elm and oak trees bordering his boyhood backyard. But the "it" is not hidden from view in Benson's mind. "It" is what started Benson on a lifetime of questions and answers.
"The ledges of rock in my parents' back yard had grooves in them," Benson explains. "My parents thought they were from a contractor." And further away from the back yard, were the 40-foot boulders that looked nothing like the surrounding landscape. "We used to climb on them," Benson says. "It terrified my parents." But it sparked Benson's curiosity.
"I was an inquisitive little kid, an obnoxious little boy," Benson says. "My parents were really good at making sure I had stuff to read and resources." Eventually, he solved his back yard mystery: the semi-truck-sized boulders and the grooves in the New England granite were evidence of glacial movement 12,000 to 18,000 years ago.
Today, armed with gizmos and gadgets such as hand-held GPS units that would have seemed like Flash Gordon fantasy to the 8-year-old Benson, the Adams State professor of geology works hours outside of his class schedule to instill the same sense of curiosity in a new generation of children.
"The subject sells itself," Benson says. "It's just exciting and unusual stuff, and the students realize science is not just some geek in a lab coat with a beaker."
As the United States moves into the future, an understanding of science will be vital, according to the National Academies of Science. Recent political debates and news items illustrate the importance of science in the nation's dialogue: global warming, stem-cell research, alternative fuels, cloning, and water resources.
"There's a tremendous lack of understanding on how important science is," Benson says. "People are making decisions without any idea why they are. People can not understand data, and data are critical.
"Students in general are not excited about learning," Benson says. "I hate to say that. But doing the outreach gives students an opportunity to ask 'why' about the things around them. Geology is a beautiful thing to do that." And Adams State College, nestled in a unique geological area, is in a prime location to foster interest in the forces that shape the earth. It would be hard for most students to imagine a better geology classroom than the Great Sand Dunes National Park, where Benson frequently lectures in a living laboratory on subjects such as wind and water erosion. Even on campus, there is no shortage of material to spark the inquisitive spirit.
"At the Ryan Museum (in Adams State's Porter Hall), I'll take specimens out and let students examine them," Benson says. "We'll look at things like a laser beam passing through calcite." When this is done, the calcite crystal splits the beam into two. "Then we approach figuring out why," Benson says.
A short walk away from Benson's office, Valley middle school students are learning science that's literally out of this world. With wooden planets in hand, students twirl around under the shadow of Adams State's Zacheis Planetarium in an awkward ballet representing the solar system.
"Be careful, Earth," Dr. Randy Emmons, a professor of physics, calls out to a student who nearly crashes into another student holding a large orange disc. "You're going to get too close to the sun and burn all of us up!" With planetary disaster avoided, Emmons continues a discussion on moons. Like Benson, Emmons does not fit the stereotypical model of a beaker-holding geek in a lab coat. Dressed in hiking shorts, a simple navy-blue T-shirt, a well worn baseball cap and dark sunglasses, Emmons looks more like a summer camp counselor. And, judging from the laughter and giggles from the 30-some middle school students, the science lesson is just as fun as any summer camp. "One of the mistakes in education is to show subject material as sequence of facts or information," Emmons says. "I'm not so much interested in what they learn, instead of going through a process of learning. I try to get the kids to do something. That's more."
Like Benson, Emmons developed a curiosity for science early in his childhood. For Emmons, however, the spark of curiosity originated from a chest of science material the government sent to his school - a _Cold War project to interest students in science careers. "When I was in the fourth grade, we were involved in this little conflict with Cuba," Emmons says. "As children, we learned to hide under desks in case of a nuclear explosion. We since learned that would not be very effective."
That year, Emmons' curiosity wasn't exactly encouraged by his teacher.
"I asked what was in a light bulb, for which I was put in detention for questioning the teacher in class," Emmons says. "Somehow I survived through that, and I've always maintained an interest in science education."
A girl holding a wood sun raises her hand to ask a question. Emmons leans in close to hear and smiles.
"They appreciate the activities and have more fun finding out the answer than me telling them what the answer is," Emmons says. "What is important in working with these students is to see the excitement and joy. I'm not after a specific goal, I just want to see excitement. Some of these kids are beat up by life, but they need to see they can do things, and they can succeed.
"It's important to reach out to everybody," Emmons says. "This country is in a very serious crisis. Americans don't understand that it's affecting us economically."
A popular program for Valley students is Emmons' robotics program, where students learn a version of BASIC to program commands to maneuver a robot through a maze. The robots, according to Emmons, are similar to the R2-D2 character in the Star Wars movies with the possibility, through correct programming, of speech recognition and photography.
"Robotics and electronics are going to take over," Emmons says. "The robotics opens up all sorts of possibilities for future employment." "The goals are to introduce students to the technology, computer science, and engineering," Emmons says. "The structure is typically three hours here on Adams State's campus, then the other workshops take place at the schools. I've had a lot of community support where people come in and assist."
The robotics program is open to all high school students in the San Luis Valley and will eventually be available to Colorado college students. "It's important for our local high school students to know they can compete, because we are so isolated," Emmons says. "And building on that interest, we are able to attract other colleges to come here. One of my long-term goals is to take the robotics program statewide."
Behind a thick velour curtain draping across Richardson Hall Auditorium's stage, Dr. Martin Jones, professor of chemistry, makes a last-minute check on assorted props that will soon be used to make everything from elephant toothpaste to pumpkin spirits. On the other side of the curtain, the auditorium fills with children and their parents anticipating the department's successful annual Chemistry Magic Show. "We have a great time," Jones says. "It's exciting, and it gets students interested in science." When the Magic Show first started nearly 20 years ago, faculty members performed the magic tricks. For the past ten years, the department's senior seminar students took over the tricks.
"That's been very successful," Jones says. "It's fun for them as well, and they get a chance to show off their stuff." Jones' interest in chemistry began with a literal bang when he was young.
"I always liked firecrackers," Jones says. "Growing up in Kansas, you could always get good fireworks and blow up tin cans and tomatoes. We'd light the fuse and throw them up in the air and watch them explode. We never tried to make our own, because they were all pretty available and pretty cheap.
"I had a chemistry kit when I was a kid," Jones says. "I guess I always liked science and math. When I went to grade school, science was just reading something and filling out worksheets. It wasn't until high school, I actually got to start doing things."
Jones' technique, both in his college classrooms and in workshops for younger students, is considerably more hands on and likely more entertaining than filling out worksheets.
"For the most part, students who are in elementary school and the first couple years of middle school are still pretty excited about learning," Jones says. "You have to be a little more explicit with instructions, watch them a little more carefully and ask questions more frequently. Other than that, it's not too much different from a college classroom. I try to do the same hands on kinds of things with younger students as college students."
Jones says he feels reaching out to students at an early age to foster a curiosity and interest in science is important.
"One vested interest is, if we don't get students or keep students interested at the middle or high school level, we won't get science students at the college level," Jones says. "I think it's crucial we get students to know that science does play a role in their everyday life, even if they are interested in music or history. The world we live in is very technologically and scientifically minded, and a knowledge of science will allow them to make good decisions in their life."
