For 10,000 Ugandan shillings – less than $3 – a child can go to school for a week in the village of Luweero, Uganda. That is where the Little Shop of Physics (LSOP) traveled to teach at a boarding school this summer. LSOP took with them more than 20 trunks of science education materials – including backpacks, microscopes, and solar cells to charge batteries – to leave with the school. They spent time engaging with the students through hands-on research and scientific exploration and found that the children had an amazing collaborative spirit.

“It wasn’t about who could get [the water bottle rocket] to go the highest, it was a group effort to learn from each launch and all achieve the goal of getting it to go higher,” said Brian Jones, director of LSOP and an instructor in the Department of Physics.

Through this experience, the students were able to learn in a unique, creative environment and the school has equipment that it can use and maintain for a long time.

Science can transcend boundaries – including language barriers – to become a foundation for universal understanding.

In appreciation, the children sent a message back to the U.S. – “Thank you, CSU.”