St. Michael's student Christopher Quigley aims his team's laser at a target during St. Michael's Annual Science Challenge . This year's event focused on the attributes of optics.

Photos by James S. Wood / Arizona Daily Star

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Light-emitting diodes. Phosphorescence. Refraction.

Sounds like words you'd hear in a high-school science class. But the 9- and 10-year-olds at the St. Michael's Annual Science Challenge Feb. 15, nearly 80 of them, handled those words and their meanings with ease.

This is the second year St. Michael's, 602 N. Wilmot Road, has invited Tucson students in grades four and five to participate in an event that teaches them basic properties of science with hands-on experiments, culminating with a contest that rewards the sharpest students.

Students from Schumaker and Mesquite elementary schools, as well as St. Michael's Parish Day School and Fountain of Life Lutheran School, participated in the event this year, which focused on the attributes of optics. Grouped in teams of two, the students rotated among five stations that allowed them to understand how light and mirrors can affect how one views an object.

The activities were created by staffers from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, a Tucson-based organization that manages several observatories. The NOAO is a partner in Hands-On Optics, an educational program that trains educators how to teach optics.

At one station, kids made their own kaleidoscopes. At another, they used black lighting to see hidden designs in money and learned how certain minerals give off eerie colors.

Students at another station contorted mirrors to read a message hidden in a piece of calcite. And they huddled together at another table, trying to understand how mirrors and light deceived the eye into thinking that a penny could fit through the small end of a funnel or move around an object that appeared to float.

But the hardest challenge consisted of lasers and mirrors. Kids crouched on the ground and angled two small mirrors that would deflect a laser to hit a target on the wall. The closer they got to the middle, the more points they earned.

Winning the challenge with 375 points out a possible 400 was the St. Michael's duo of relatives Chris and James Quigley. St. Michael's student Quinn Gardner teamed with BASIS student William George to earn second place with 300 points.

Few students were able to hit the target and showed visible disappointment.

"Some get it, some don't," said Rob Sparks, an NOAO education specialist and former physics teacher. "At least they're trying."

Steve Pompea, NOAO manager of science education, said optics shouldn't be construed as an advanced topic for students. If whittled down to its basic elements, any student can learn about it.

"It's an ideal way to get them interested in science," he said. "We wanted to promote that interest before they make their career choices."

It was also exciting for Pompea to see girls enthusiastic about science at a time when schools are working hard to keep girls interested in the field.

"Science and engineering aren't just for males," he said, pointing out the female science majors from the University of Arizona judging the laser competition.

Alexis Hankocy, 9, a fourth-grader at Schumaker Elementary, spent 10 minutes configuring mirrors with teammate and friend Elise Nanini, also 9, of Ventana Vista Elementary, trying to read the message in the block of calcite.

"I think it said, 'Focus on optics,' " Alexis said after conferring with Elise.

Ellen Hankocy, Alexis' grandmother, said Alexis is likely to consider the idea of being a scientist after spending two hours learning about optics.

"She was excited about coming to this," Ellen Hankocy said. "Alexis is very curious about things."

Alexis said her favorite part of the science challenge was making her kaleidoscope.

"It was fun to be able to make my own," Alexis said.