Outreach in an Elementary school in ILLINOIS

On December 9, I went to Lakewood Elementary School, Montgomery, IL to talk about the importance of programming in science. I was  bit nervous and uncertain about the prospective of talking sub-atomic level physics to my audience (who were essentially the students of 3rd-5th grade). However, I was very impressed by the fact that most of the students had some concept of atoms along with protons and electrons (not neutrons). In fact, few 5th grade students knew how electron was responsible for the electricity that lighted their house and school. We discussed about how tiny atoms are and how we use house-sized cameras (detectors) to take pictures when protons smash together and break into many pieces. Thinking back, some of the questions were really amazing and probably useful for us as well:

1. How do you move your camera from one place to another? (Note that the cameras here are the detectors  such as, ATLAS and DUNE Far Detector, which are complex machines as big as 2-3 storey tall buildings. I told them we usually do not move our cameras. However, thinking back, it was an interesting question.)

2. If the size of a speck of dust is so small, how many dust specks fit in my class-room and how many atoms will fill my class-room?

3. Can you make computers so smart that it will bring my favorite cartoon character (Pokemon characters to be exact) to life?

4. When did you know that you wanted to make science as your career?

5. What classes do I have to take to become a scientist? ( Personally, as  3rd graders to high schoolers, all we need is the  interest and passion for science.)

6. Why does light move at 186,000 mps?

7. Are we and the sun made of same stuff?