Korean students learn physics the fun way

A group of high school students from Korea's Wooshin High School is visiting the Western Washington University campus for a couple weeks to get hands-on experience in applying principles of science, technology, engineering and mathematics through Western's Youth Programs.

On Tuesday, July 31, they were competing to see how far they could shoot paper rockets using compressed air, manipulating such elements as weight, center of gravity, distribution of mass, pressure and pitch to achieve the longest flights possible. Tuesday's winner landed at roughly 155 feet.

The students, who don't get much opportunity for hands-on learning during the school year, travel to Western specifically for this program, said their instructor, Lisa Shulman.

When she's not teaching during the summers at Western, Shulman, a WWU alumna, is a teacher of applied science at Kirkland's Finn Hill Junior High in the Lake Washington School District.