We loved this field trip because of our time outdoors. We went to Hopcott's the best place ever, and we got stuff to have an amazing picnic with, including macaroons and pate and goat cheese. It was a beautiful day and we liked the field trip and the picnic.
At the SLVC, one of our favourite things was the Electrica room, a room with lots of exhibits about electricity and places it comes from. One exhibit we liked there taught us what NOT to do at downed power line.
You have to keep your feet on the ground and shuffle if you ever are at a downed power line, and this is because if you take a full step the electrons go up one leg and travel through your whole body and make your whole body an electric circuit and you will be electrocuted!
Miranda: There were lots of exhibits about renewable resources. Renewable resources are resources that can used again, like wind power, solar power, geothermal power and hydro power. Hydro is using water, and that is the kind of dam we went to, where the movement of water creates energy which is turned into power.
One of my favourite exhibits was a machine that shows how energy sparks work. When you pull back two balls and let go of them, it shoots energy through a line of balls and the energy goes through to the last ball and the last ball hits a switch that turns on a light. This shows how potential energy turns into kinetic energy!
Sophia: I liked learning about Nikola Tesla and how he wanted to make free energy.
The Story of Nikola Tesla
Once upon a time when light bulbs weren't very popular, there was a man named Nikola Tesla. He was trying to invent ways to use electricity. He had a couple of people who were giving money to help him do his experiments. They thought to themselves, "When he gets electricity, we'll make people pay for it AND GET A BUNCH OF MONEY!" Nikola believed he could harness energy from the earth and make free energy for everyone. When the people who were giving him money for experiments found out he wanted to give electricity away for free, they aid, "No way we're going give money for that, dude!" and they stopped giving money for experiments which is why we don't free electricity today.
The End
The picture above is a model of a Tesla coil we saw demonstrated when we were there. I think the tesla coil releases electrons though the air, and jumped on to the light bulbs, because the light bulbs lit up.
Eleanor: When I was at the SLVC I was focussing on STRUCTURES. One of my favourite structures there was a big, big, structure that looked like a waterslide. If you stacked three men on top of each other, that would be how tall and wide it is. They are called comstocks, they were used for taking the water from the lake and putting into the power station.
Sophia: The water would come into the turbines, which look like huge water wheels, and they would send the turbines around, and the outer wall of the turbine would have magnetic lining and because of the magnetic lining, the electrons would jump around all thingy wingy all over the place and make ELECTRICITY! This is an awesome example of how potential energy turns into kinetic energy.
We learned about the history of building the dam, and that there was a whole town that was built when they built the dam. Only men would work on building the dam, but because the dam was being built in the middle of nowhere, they made a whole town for the men and their families, and they tried to make it as friendly as possible. There was no alcohol allowed, they made a bank, a church and a school, there were shops, and the world's shortest railroad - like a skytrain - between the dam and the town.
People thought electricity was scary when it was first invented - like witchcraft! We love how on this old ad it says "Safe! Children can turn the switch!"
It was really cool getting to go to the SLVC. We sure gained some "POWERful" knowledge!
Thanks for reading, and see you on Tuesday for bowling. Cara, bring me my mangoes!
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