Can a flux capacitor really take you to the future?

Without the DeLorean and Marty McFly, says Boston Museum of Science  educator Andy Hall, probably not: A “flux” capacitor (unfortunately) is just in the movies.

Hall was on hand with an actual capacitor at the Center School on Thursday, February 9, to answer questions and conduct experiments of “Electromagnetism” with the third grade students.

Though, the students were not able to travel in time, Hall said it’s important for the students to understand the forces at work around and inside of them.

“There are so many forces that are being used around us and we don’t notice them at all,” Hall said. “We can’t see them but we can see what they do.”

Hall used the capacitor, as well as a Tesla coil, magnets and a ring launcher to demonstrate the movements of heat, light, sound and gravity.

With a magnograph generator, Hall manipulated the positive and negative charges we all have running inside of us to make a student’s hair stand on end.  The Tesla Coil generated high and low currents of electricity setting off “lightning-like” currents.

The students were then put in a test of strength as two third graders attempted, and failed, to pull apart magnets powered by AA batteries. And for the grand finale, Hall generated electric charges with the capacitor to launch an aluminum ring high up into the ceiling of the Center School gym.

A resident of Boston, Hall works with several of the 25 traveling education programs offered by the Museum. This particular program, he said, seems to be a crowd-pleaser.

“I think it’s the content and the range of the program that the kids seem to respond to,” Hall said. “Electromagnetism is a big thing in their frameworks, but it’s not necessarily easy for the teacher to explain from textbooks. It works better to see it in action.”

The Mattapoisett Parent Teacher Association funded Hall’s visit to Center School. Chair of the Arts and Humanities Committee for the PTA, Debra Nettles, says she is a fan of the program and often travels with her own family to see it live at the Museum.

“A lot of parents approached me and requested more science programs,” Nettles said. “It’s extraordinary that we can find one that can thrill the students in addition to learning.”

In October the PTA hosted another Museum program for the fourth grade students, which centers on geology. Nettles said the program went over extremely well with the students.

“The Museum staff has it down to a science, forgive the pun,” Nettles said. “They are so well organized and they work so well with the kids. The kids really, really enjoyed it.”