By Robin Donovan

Some students are taught to reach for the sky. Students at East Elementary in Athens learned to bring the sky into the classroom as they created clouds with Ido Braslavsky, associate professor of physics and astronomy recently.

Braslavsky taught an interactive lesson about clouds, molecules and gases to Mrs. Schultz’s second grade class as part of the outreach component of a program funded by the National Science Foundation.

With a Van de Graaff generator, a device that uses a moving belt to charge a metal sphere, he explained the basics of static electricity. Students giggled as a wig attached to the generator’s charged sphere stood on end, and were amazed to see sparks jump through the air to hit a grounded metallic sphere.

Second graders also learned to compare the weights of different molecules by adding the atomic mass of elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon. “Some atoms really like each other – they stick together all the time,” Braslavsky said as he showed students how molecules form.

After the kids learned how atoms combine to form molecules like water and carbon dioxide, Braslavsky explained that carbon dioxide can take various forms, including dry ice. As students’ eyes widened, he poured water over dry ice to create a cloud in a cup for each child.

Although the second graders were disappointed that they were not allowed to drink the resulting mixture, they were content to watch Braslavsky take a careful sip. The result? “It tastes like soda pop without the fizz and without the sugar,” he said.

The students thanked Braslavsky with “put ups,” or praise, and an Elvis impersonation.