Friction, force and motion were the buzzwords of the day yesterday, May 5, during the Mickelson ExxonMobil Academy Inquiry Showcase of East Baton Rouge Parish School System.  Sponsored by the Mickelson Foundation, ExxonMobil and the Academic Distinction Fund, the event showcased exciting math and science learning activities teachers have learned at other academies.  Teachers without the training got ideas on teaching these subjects with hands-on student projects – from creative egg drops to Nerf-like blow guns and air rockets.
 
Hope Dupuy (first photo, left), a third-grade science teacher at Park View Elementary School, has students use the force of a broom handle to move an egg from a cardboard tube to the water glass under it by knocking the pan out from between them.  Chris Rollins (second photo, right) uses a toy blow gun to teach students about air pressure, force and motion.  She teaches at Melrose Elementary School.  In the last two years, the academy program has trained more than 200 science and math teachers in this school district.