OGDEN -- As Angelica Lorona stood with her hands on an electrostatic generator, hair flying in a halo around her head, a classmate tapped her shoulder and jumped back with a zap and a shriek.
The generator was one of several exhibits set up Friday at Highland Junior High School to get students more interested in science.
The Leo on Wheels is a traveling program sponsored by Salt Lake City-based museum The Leonardo to bring hands-on science to middle and junior high students, said Jeanne Huelskamp, outreach specialist.
With exhibits such as a stationary bicycle that shows the power necessary to light different light bulbs, a digital microscope and light-bending lenses, science teacher David Joy said the school is lucky to get the Leo on Wheels.
"They're far more interested in this than (in) me," Joy said.
Joy said public schools can't afford to buy the exhibits that come, so the Leo on Wheels is invaluable. It corresponds with Utah science curriculum so he can tie in the program to lessons later in the year.
Huelskamp said the program helps take the mystery away from science.
"It makes them realize they can continue this exploration," she said. "You see this 'a-ha!' moment."
Eighth-grade student Becca Windley said the electrostatic generator was her favorite part of the exhibit because it was fun to watch people get shocked.
That was a common theme. Classmate Gramoze Xhafolli abandoned his attempt to bend the light with lenses and joined the group around the Van de Graaff generator with a yell of, "Come on! Don't be afraid."
He liked the exhibit and said it was better than class because they get to shock people.
The program is aimed at the middle grades, because Huelskamp said that is when students are beginning to get more heavily into science classes and they want to attract students rather than have them become disinterested in sciences.
This was the first time the project visited Highland. It rotates among schools in Utah and got a grant from the Idaho National Laboratory to go to Idaho Falls schools.
Ian McClintick, education specialist, said they try to get to as many schools as possible, so the exhibit may come only once every few years. About 12,000 students a year see the program, which has been touring for five years.
More than 200 people came to Wednesday's community night at the exhibit. McClintick said parents get more involved and play with the exhibits when they are with their kids.
"It's fun because they (the students) have already seen the exhibits so they have to explain everything to their parents."
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