Science Around Us (3)

There again, armed with a digital camera, you will find plenty of stuffs for your teaching. This particular example is a tent which was set up during a festive season. A common sight in Malaysia but how often do we remind ourselves that such a mundane thing can in fact be a very useful illustration of a concept in science? The broader base of the metal pole that supports the tent is to increase its area of contact, and hence reducing the pressure exerting on the floor. Very simple? Common sense? This is exactly what science is about. Why use complicated examples when simple ones are available? The main point is to make science understood and not the reverse--to make it abstract and mystical.