The 7th installment of “Mr. Caputo Teaches…,” my experience as an extracurricular science teacher in elementary and middle schools across Massachusetts.
One of the most interesting things about overseeing a classroom of middle schoolers, is listening in on their conversations. Of course there is the occasional who likes who, but for the most part, kids talk about media. In my Thursday class of all boys, the topics of the day usually revolve around two things: YouTube and video games.
To no surprise, the types of entertainment the kids enjoy are far from virtual chess and Sesame Street, but that’s no reason to discount their value as teaching tools. Halo 3, for instance, a video game known for the violent killing of alien beasts, has taught countless players about physics and weaponry. Grand Theft Auto IV, perhaps a parent’s worst nightmare for its glorification of murder, theft, drug use and sex, is also an insightful look into urban sociology.
Thanks to these kinds of games, my students are experts on guns – past, present, and future. This came in handy when trying to explain the concept of plasma, the fourth state of matter. When first bridging the topic, the students quickly asked, “Are we going to make plasma guns?” They were disappointed to learn we were actually making electronic pens, but I saw a teaching moment.
I asked them to describe what comes out of the plasma guns they’ve seen in video games or movies. “Bright stuff,” one kid responded. “It melts everything,” said another. Exactly, stars are hot and shiny because they are mostly made of plasma. To call it by its official designation, ionized gas, didn’t seem the best tactic with a group of sixth graders.
Judging from my students’ interest in turning everything into a weapon, I would argue that a curriculum based on guns and explosions could have educational value. When I discussed light bulbs for instance, all this group wanted to do was break a bulb and attach it to a battery. (I did so and it caused a nice-sized flame to emerge.) When we built a crane, the kids used extra plastic rods and Popsicle sticks to make spears. When it came time for the cannons class, the students were so excited, they built two each.
Their task was to design the biggest explosion, using breath spray as a fuel and a pair of exposed wires, attached to a buzzer, to make a spark. The kids had to come up with the perfect fuel and heat combination to send their ammunition, in this case a film capsule, flying. By the end, everyone had a different style and we were even able to have a contest. Just think of the possibilities with catapults, bows and arrows, fireworks, shields, fortresses, etc… We could call it Explosive! science.
While shaping future Department of Defense employees could be interesting, realistically, it could be a stretch to find safe ways of covering this topic with kids. The point is, relevance is key. So next time a young person in your life is shooting an virtual alien, ask what kind of gun he or she is using.