It was after the closing bell, some students were lounging around and to while away time productively i decided to engage them with a simple question. "The fan in the classroom is powered by electricity but where did it come from?" A student said, "from the switch". "Good". "Okay if we open the switch, where is the electricity?". Another student offered, "inside the power cable". "Well said". "So if we open the cable where is the electricity?" "Simple" said another student. "It is in the wires connected to the electric pole" "Alright then,if we trace all the poles one after the other, where will we end up" "Kainji Dam" quipped a brilliant student. "Good, so we are now at Kainji dam, where is the electricity?" Seconds past. Then i hear "inside the water". "Oh you mean electricity is inside the water?" "Yes!" came the reply. "So we are looking at the water in Kainji dam that has electricity in it but if we touch it, there is no shock! How then does the dam produce electricity" SILENCE. I could hear their brain thinking. Finally, one of the lot described how water is forced to pass through a tiny hole and the force produced drives a turbine which produces electricity. At last, an eureka moment. The students are now arguing between themselves. Here is the basic fact anything that moves has the potential to produce electricity. The fact that we read about it without demonstrating it robs us all of the brilliant sparks that practical sessions give. In the meantime, let us just pretend that it is okay for schools not to have functional laboratories as long as they get marks for giving the right answer.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:26:27 +0000
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