Students have electric experience at Hands-On Science Center Fall STEM Camp

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  As part of the Fall Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Camp at the Hands-On Science Center in Tullahoma Oct. 8-12, engineers with the AEDC Civil Engineer Branch at Arnold Air Force Base gave a presentation on the importance of conserving energy.

“Electrifying Electricity and Energy” was the topic for Oct. 10, and Kazi Mamun, Arnold Resource Efficiency manager, and Reggie Floyd, Energy and Utility Program manager, explained what power is, why it should be protected and ways to protect it.

“A definition of power is physical strength and force used by something or someone,” Mamun said. “An example of the power we’re talking about today is electricity, like the electrical power we use at home when turning on and off a light switch or running the heat or air conditioning.”

Mamun and Floyd mentioned that people often take power, like electricity, for granted because it’s all around and is usually there when needed.

“But we need to protect the power so that we’re able to utilize power without any interruption,” Mamun said. “What are ways we can protect power?”

One student responded that power is protected by being sure to turn off a light when leaving a room. Another mentioned that other sources of light could be used, like battery-powered flashlights or a lamp, which uses less energy.

According to Mamun, the presentation for the Fall STEM Camp was a community outreach opportunity for the Air Force Energy Action Month. The theme is “Protect the Power.” He wrapped up by showing the different ways energy is created, including nuclear plants, wind generators, fossil fuels, tidal power plants, hydropower, solar battery and thermal power.

Bill Boss, science advisor for the HOSC, provided a demonstration on ways that solar power is used. He then presented a display showing the evolution of different light bulbs, from high-energy use incandescent bulbs to lower-energy use bulbs, such as compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, and light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.

Arnold STEM director Olga Oakley, who is based at the HOSC, thanked Mamun and Floyd for taking time to come and speak to the students.

"We appreciated having them here for our Fall Camp to teach our campers about simple ways anyone can conserve energy,” she said. “It was wonderful to have AEDC representatives here to share with our campers their expertise and the overall mission of AEDC."

Oakley also thanked the members of the Coffee County Leadership Program who stopped in to learn about the activities offered by HOSC and were present for the discussion on energy conservation.

"We enjoyed having the Coffee County Leadership group here, not only to see all of our exhibits, but to also see what we do here at Hands-On Science Center, which is to teach and have fun with kids and get them excited about science."