FAIRFIELD TWP. — Brandon Sauter had one word Thursday to describe how it felt to hold a rapidly spinning, 20-inch bicycle wheel in his outstretched arms: painful.

        The second-grader at Fairfield North Elementary School was learning about the gyroscopic force caused by spinning wheels. It was one of 10 hands-on stations set up in the school's multipurpose room as part of a one-day science program presented by Columbus' COSI — Center of Science and Industry — on Wheels.

Samantha Stacy, 8, squeezes a model of the human brain while learning about bicycle safety and how helmets protect the head. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        The traveling Science of Sports program used simple exercises - like holding a spinning wheel or jumping — to illustrate principles of physics that included gyroscopic force, friction, momentum and gravity. The concepts are those that students will see when they take Ohio's proficiency tests, said North Principal Kathy Dixon.

        “It's a fun and exciting hands-on way to teach science, and they all love sports,” Mrs. Dixon said. “It goes hand in hand with our science curriculum.”

        The students had fun and were surprised by what they found.

        “I thought it was going to be easy by how the wheel looked,” said Brandon, 8. “But it was painful!”

        Classmate Aaron Ault, 7, was surprised by how heavy the wheel felt after it started spinning.

        “My legs were spinning, too, because of the seat,” Aaron said.

        At another station, students wore black glasses and then had to throw a basketball into a hoop emitting a pitched tone. Volunteer parent Christy Lockhart moved the portable hoop in an effort to sharpen listening skills.

        “It felt weird because I couldn't see,” said 9-year-old Tommy Hudson. “It was hard to hear where the basket was. It was just beeping.”

        Beth Kenney, 10, was surprised by the difference in ease of rolling between two wheelchairs.

        “One was really hard. The smaller one rolled better,” Beth said. “I wanted to see how fast I could go and how hard it would be. I got to go really fast with the little one.”
       

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