By Sarah Schulz
sarah.schulz@theindependent.com

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Independent/Sarah Schulz Mr. Science, aka Tim Perkins, uses a cup of water and salt to complete a circuit to light a light bulb during an experiment in his show at the Hastings Museum Friday. Perkins has been educating people about electricity for 17 years and performed five times Friday. Independent/Sarah Schulz Students and teachers from various Hastings elementary and middle schools watch Tim ³Mr. Science² Perkins perform various demonstrations using electricity. Perkins used hands-on experiments and humor to teach and entertain the children Friday at the Hastings Museum. Click Thumbnails to View

Tim Perkins brought humor and a knack for education to the Hastings Museum on Friday to teach students about electricity.

Using a Nerf ball, fluorescent light bulbs, a plasma ball, a Tesla coil, water, salt and various other items, Perkins taught a roomful of children and their teachers about how electricity works.

"I use comedy and visual aids to build on what they know about electricity," he said.

Because he's often in front of a crowd that varies in age, Perkins repeats his message in different ways and works in new vocabulary words such as atoms, electrons and photons so young children will recognize them during later science lessons at school.

"We hope kids will develop an understanding of electricity and learn not to fear it but to respect it," said Russanne Erickson, education coordinator for the Hastings Museum.

Perkins began each of Friday's shows with a quick lesson on energy and how it travels. At the 10 a.m. show, he chose two children from the audience to come up front, hold hands and grasp cords plugged into a meter. When they touched hands, the needle on the meter bounced, showing that electricity had moved between them.

"Technically, they just exchanged body parts," he said.

Another experiment involved a light bulb fixed on a stand with two prongs beneath it. He plugged the bulb into a socket on the wall and lowered the prongs into a glass of water to complete the circuit.

He did this while explaining to the children that water is a conductor and people can get electrocuted if they touch electrically charged liquid. He then added salt to the water to assist in the conduction so the light bulb lit up.

Perkins held up a variety of objects during his shows and asked the students which things they believed would conduct electricity, such as a wire and a rubber hose.

"Raise your hands if you think this will conduct electricity," he said, and hands shot into the air.

"Raise your hands if you think this will be an insulator," he said, and more hands shot into the air.

"Now raise your hands if you think I'll get shocked and have to go to the hospital!"

The last comment brought laughter from the audience.

The crowd pleasers in Perkins' shows were the plasma ball, which, when touched, produced enough static electricity to make the person's hair stand on end, and the Tesla coil. He used a high-powered voltage source with the coil to cause purple, lightning-like sparks to jump from the coil toward the wall.

The bright, crackling discharge elicited shrieks from the children.

"Do it again!" they yelled as Perkins hit the power source button.

"Did you guys learn a lot about electricity today?" he asked when things had simmered down. "Did you have a lot of fun?"

"Yes!" came the reply.