Students visit ASCO

Would you like to carry out intensive research? Would you love to explore more in science and know how to create new ideas about nature?
ASCO, promoted by the Vatican Pontifical Council for Culture for International University and Youth Collaboration with Africa in Informal Science learning activities for the
development of sustainable modern science culture, is the answer. This was lived recently during the visit by Students to the Assumpta science center Ofekata- Owerri (ASCO) on 7th January 2020 at 3:15 pm at ASCO temporary site, now its Outpost in Owerri city center. The students were four in number from different schools within the axis of Owerri. These were students that came for the 2019 ASCO Christmas science lecture held as usual, on 28th December, and were amazed with what they saw and heard, so they came
back to the center to learn more and do some practical’s.

Exhibitions carried out

Food pyramid: it’s an exhibition that shows the six classes of food we consume in our daily lives. The diagram starts with water, protein, it includes beans, meat fish, and soybeans. Carbohydrate, it includes rice, garri, and cereals. Vitamins, it includes vegetables and fruits. Mineral salt it includes it includes water and salt. Fats and oil. It includes red oil and groundnut oil.

Digestive system: is a diagram that shows the digestive system in human body. Starting from the esophagus__ it means the passage between the pharynx and the stomach, then to the liver__ it makes proteins important for blood clotting and other functions, it detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. The liver is a large meaty organ that sits on the right side of the body. Then to the small intestine and finally the large intestine. Note, anything that goes to the large intestine is a waste product.

Delayed voice: this is an exhibition that shows how fast or slow a sound passes through the cable. Uttering sound or saying a few words speaking into one end of the red tube and listening to the other. You will notice there will be a delay between the moment you speak and the moment you listen. What happens: the speed of sound in the air is about 30 minutes a second. The delay you notice is due to the time it takes for the sound of your voice to travel along the tube.

Hand-powered battery: what to do and what to see- put one of your hand on the aluminum plate and the other on the copper plate which is next to the other plate. The needle of the galvanometer moves indicating the presence of current. Notice how the intensity of current charges. Breath on your hand, you put one hand at a time on the plate.
What happens: the human body acts like the acid in a battery when your hand which are slightly damp and salty touch the plates, a series of chemical reaction takes place. One of the reactions takes away the charge from the copper plate while the other reaction had changes to the aluminum plate. Current passes through your body is so weak that you won’t feel it.

Cabled telephone; What to see and what to do; pick up one of the glasses and ask the other person to do the same. Place yourselves face to face so that the wire is stretched. Speak into the glass with low voice and ask the friend to do the same. You can hear the voice of your friend even if though it is low. What happens; sound waves cause the wire to vibrate and are transmitted through it. If this is stretched,
the transmission is optimal, otherwise if the wire is not stretched, the vibration get attenuated and you cannot hear the voice of your friend.

Mirage: what to see. Try to touch the small object. Are you sure you will manage?
What happens; What you see- is the image of the object which is actually placed on the bottom of the. Thisis formed of two super-imposed parabolic mirrors whose concave surface each other. Parabolic mirrors possesses the property of concentrating the parallel of rays which are reflected onto its surface onto the focal point while if an object is placed at the focal point. The reflected rays appear to be parallel. On this case, the two mirrors faces each other and the illusion you see is due to the combination of two phenomenon.

Students reactions.
Prince asked about the meaning of organic matters and was told they are trees and flowers cut down and they form manure which helps in the growth of crops. Response by Mbata Chinwendu.