Ask HN: Recommend science experiments and videos for unfortunate school students

I am in India and I got an opportunity to teach high school physics to kids in a government school here this saturday. I will also be teaching both the teachers and the kids on how to use computers on Sunday.

Good education in India at school level is mostly provided by private institutions which are generally expensive. Only kids from very poor families study in government schools. The reason is: Education is free till the age of 14 in these schools. So parents don’t have to pay any fee. Most kids studying here are laborers and beggars (both are illegal but kids don’t have any other way to survive). Lot of relief organizations have taken intiatives to get such children into government schools to improve their quality of life. The motivation for these kids to attend school is that they get free lunch, a roof over their head for a few hours each day, have fun with other kids and also escape from the harsh realities of their difficult life.

I studied in a good private school but only remember complaining about it when I was there. But after visiting the govt. school, I think I studied in heaven. I was told that the teaching staff hasn't been paid a salary for the past few months. The staff themselves are not very too great in terms of quality of knowledge but I appreciate them doing their best for these kids when they aren't being paid. They even take turns to come on weekends to take special classes for the kids.

I paid a visit to the school this morning and was shocked to see the facilities. The class I am to teach is a small 15ft by 15ft room cramped with 35 kids. Surprisingly, they managed to fit in benches and chairs for these kids. There is no table for the teacher. I was hoping to be able to do some practical experiements in the class to make the kids understand better (They do not have any labs and everything they learn is purely theoretical and driven from an exam point of view to score marks that will help them move to the next class). I was happy to see an electrical plug point to connect a laptop. I think I might able to arrange for some space to perform some experiments outside the class on the corridor.

Now, I need to figure out what experiments to perform and what videos to show these kids to help them understand physics better. I also need to figure out how to introduce computers to them in layman language.

This won't be an easy task for two reasons:

1) I am not fluent with the local language. Even though the medium of instruction is English, knowing the local language would have helped. For this reason, it is very important that the experiments teach the kids more than my language. Choosing the right experiments is very important.

2) Computer related explanations should be able to connect to these kids daily lives. This will need some good thinking.

I need HN to help me by suggesting simple experiments and the angle from which I could teach these kids the benefits of using computers and also what would be appropriate to teach. I was thinking I will visit a toy store today and look for ready-to-buy Physics and Electromagnetic Kits. However, I am not sure if I will find something good. If not, I need to come up with experiments on my own.

Chapters to be explained in physics by experiments and/or videos:

1) Electromagnetic Induction: Basics of induction, Fleming's and Faraday's rules/laws, AC/DC Dynamo, Motors (Mostly experiments and videos only if absolutely essential) 2) Electromagnetic Radiation: Electromagnetic spectrum, wavelength, frequency, photoelectric effect, LASER (Mostly experiments and videos only if absolutely essential) 3) Rockets and artificial satellites: Principles involved, basics of propellants, orbital and escape velocities, types of satellites, indian space programs (Mostly videos and few experiments) 4) Heat : Latent heat, engines and their functioning (Mostly experiments and videos only if absolutely essential) 5) The Universe: Sun, Stars, Milky Way, Galaxies, Evolution of Stars and Origin of the universe (Only videos)

I have about 2 hours on Saturday to do the physics and about the same time on Sunday. If I do not finish I intend to go to the weekend after and keep doing so until I finish. If I like the experience, I intend to keep doing this on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.