Garbage bags, mineral water bottles, broken table tennis balls...... In a small village in Henan, there is a young rural teacher who uses "garbage" to create a rural "magic laboratory" that is popular all over the Internet.
"Launch! Launch!" In the empty village playground, he and 1,000 students built rockets together, and after hundreds of failures, in a cheer, the homemade "water rocket" rose into the sky, and also raised the children's scientific dreams into the sky.
The water rocket is ready for launch.
Pick up "garbage" to build rockets
"Teacher, are there any aliens?"
"Teacher, why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west?"
"Teacher, why do the leaves turn yellow?"
"Teacher, what is science?"
……
Zhang Jiantao used to be a math teacher, and when the children saw him on the playground, they all walked around. Now that he is a science teacher, the children will run over to him from afar, smile and hug him.
Zhang Jiantao's primary school has 1,000 children in Zhangguangmiao Township, Gushi County, Henan Province, where many of the children's parents have been working outside the home for a long time and are raised by their grandparents on a daily basis.
What is science? At first, none of the little ones could tell. Until one day, they picked up "garbage" and their homemade "rockets" actually flew into the sky.
"Before we made the rocket, the first experiment we did was in 2021, called 'Wind Formation', which is actually a relatively simple experiment, that is, a wind wheel on the top, a few candles below, the candles are lit, and the wind wheel turns. Zhang Jiantao recalled that this experiment, which he felt very boring at the time, brought a huge shock to the children.
The parents are away, the grandparents don't understand, the children are not exposed to science education, and no one has taken them to do science experiments.
When the wind wheel turned, the children applauded as if they had agreed, and some of the children jumped up from their seats excitedly. Zhang Jiantao was very impressed by that experiment. He didn't expect that a small ordinary experiment could make the children so excited.
A little girl pulled the corner of his clothes and timidly asked, "Teacher, when will we come to the laboratory again?" After the girl asked, a group of little boys came around and begged Zhang Jiantao to start another experimental class.
In a rural primary school, there is no equipment, can you build a rocket? Zhang Jiantao and his children did it!
"We use discarded Sprite bottles as the rocket body of the water rocket, the iron frame of the school laboratory as the launch pad, and the launcher purchased online to 'patchwork' together a one-stage water rocket, we use a pump to pump it up, and the water rocket flies up using the principle of recoil!" Zhang Jiantao said.
"What if a water rocket needs a parachute? We make it ourselves in garbage bags. Zhang Jiantao recalled that he and his students brought garbage bags or waste shopping bags from their homes to form a large parachute, and he dismantled the old quilt cover of his home, used the cotton thread of the quilt cover as a parachute rope, and picked up the worn-out table tennis ball and put it on the arrow to reduce air resistance.
On the day of the successful launch, the water rocket flew into the air, and the children instantly exclaimed "wow" and ran in the direction of the rocket on the playground. Zhang Jiantao saw the long-lost happiness in the eyes of the children.
After the first successful launch, Zhang Jiantao and the children upgraded the water rocket many times, and there were nearly ten versions of large and small, in the process, the children picked up 253 drink bottles one after another, providing materials for the "launch module" of the water rocket.
Every time it is launched, the playground is lively like a big gathering. Such a happy scene also shocked many netizens.
"We didn't have tall lab equipment, so my children and I went around picking up garbage and collecting materials. Zhang Jiantao said that in this remote rural primary school, he and the children picked up the discarded items around them for experiments, and the refills of the gel pen and the straws left over from the milk were also washed and put away after the students finished writing.
In the eyes of others, the discarded garbage is the "treasure" of their scientific experiments, and the waste items have become important props in this magical laboratory in the countryside.
Once, Zhang Jiantao took the children to do an experiment of table tennis on the top of the water roof, and needed a large plastic bucket, he searched for it, and it cost about 20 yuan to 50 yuan to buy one on the Internet, which was too expensive! So Zhang Jiantao and the children went to the school cafeteria aunt to "hunt for treasures" and washed a large barrel of 5-10 liters of old soy bottles, and finally solved the problem of the experimental bucket.
Zhang Jiantao took the children to do science experiments.
150 failed experiments
"Stray Balloons", Whirling Foam Airplanes, Suspended Paper Airplanes, Sound Waveform Demonstrations, Water Rockets, Bernoulli's Principle, Balancing...... Zhang Jiantao led the children to explore the mysteries of science in one experiment after another.
"We did an experiment with a water rocket, and I failed that experiment at least 150 times. Zhang Jiantao recalled that taking children to do scientific experiments in the countryside faced many challenges and difficulties, suffered many grievances along the way, and also failed many times. For half a year, he immersed himself in the research of the water rocket project, because this project is the favorite of the children.
"First of all, I found that a set of water rockets on the Internet was too expensive for hundreds of yuan, and then I searched everywhere and found it difficult to find a very complete production tutorial. I had to do my own research. Zhang Jiantao said that he has spent half a year repeatedly trying and making mistakes, repeatedly summarizing, and repeatedly improving.
Three or four launches a day, Monday to Friday, while others were in class, he fired water rockets at the playground. Trying every day, failing every day, improving every day.
In order to concentrate on taking the children to do experiments, in 2022, Zhang Jiantao applied to the school to transform from a math teacher to a full-time science teacher. He put all his energy into the production of science experiment teaching aids and taking the children to do science experiments, after school at four or five o'clock in the afternoon, everyone left, and he often worked overtime at school until more than 9 o'clock in the evening.
"I became a 'magician' in the eyes of the children, and we did more than 100 experiments together. Zhang Jiantao said that in this process, more than 100 experiments were created, of which 60 or 70 experiments were imitated or improved by others, and 20 or 30 experiments were original by himself.
In 2023, Zhang Jiantao improved an experiment called "stray balloon", putting a clover-shaped device on a balloon to blow the balloon full, this device can fly around the classroom and then return to the experimenter's hands, which the children like very much.
Not long ago, on the school playground, Zhang Jiantao used materials bought online and trash cans to assemble a "trash can drone". He took off with a remote control in his hand, and the students who had been standing in a circle around him instantly burst into amazement. He also used the same method to make the broom fly into the sky, and these videos quickly went viral online.
"Learning to persevere in failure is an important lesson in science education. Zhang Jiantao said that sometimes, he would deliberately use some small tricks in a certain part of the experiment, deliberately create failures, and urge children to think about problems and solve problems. Today, children are becoming more passionate about science, more confident, and more problem-solving.
Zhang Jiantao only makes science teaching aids.
In the countryside, scientists are trained
"Teacher, can a water rocket fly so high that it can fly to the moon?"
"It is impossible for a water rocket to fly to the moon, but your dreams can fly into the sky!"
Each scientific experiment is like a small scientific "seed" that takes root in the hearts of 1,000 children. The experiment of building rockets and the more than 100 scientific experiments behind them made the story of Zhang Jiantao and the children popular all over the Internet.
With more than 100 experiments, the children's interest in science is getting stronger and stronger. Once Zhang Jiantao led the children to launch a water rocket, and he asked everyone to write their dreams on the water rocket, and the most common dream was to become an astronaut and a scientist.
Someone asked Zhang Jiantao that it is difficult to carry out scientific experiments in the countryside, and what is the motivation to persevere?
"I feel that every time I do an experiment, the expectant eyes of the children and the screams on the scene are very healing, and all this pushes me forward. The way they are obsessed with experiments, and the way they dance when they are happy, makes me feel very happy. Zhang Jiantao said.
Since the second half of 2021, Zhang Jiantao has taken rural children to participate in some competitions, and has won a total of 65 awards at the provincial, municipal, and county levels. These awards are a recognition for the children and a driving force for Zhang Jiantao.
Zhang Jiantao took the children to do science experiments.
In September 2023, the Xinyang Association for Science and Technology in Henan Province hired the first batch of science popularization experts, and Zhang Jiantao was the only teacher from the countryside.
"We walked out of our village primary school with our own experiments and went into 24 other rural primary schools. Zhang Jiantao said that it is very healing, and every time you do an experiment, you can see the light in the eyes of the children, as if you have become the person you admire the most in the hearts of the children.
These 24 villages are small, and some of them are very small. Impressed, some only have more than 40 children, and some have only 4 children in one grade, although the number is very small, Zhang Jiantao still insists on doing popular science. Everywhere he went, he was deeply touched by the adoration of science in the children's eyes.
In Zhang Jiantao's heart, over the years, it is science and children who have changed themselves, allowing them to more deeply understand the meaning of being a science teacher, and giving them new dreams and pursuits.
"I feel like I'm just a very ordinary teacher, doing a little ordinary thing, leading a group of children to realize their dreams. Zhang Jiantao said that before he became a teacher, he sold clothes and electrical appliances to make money, and later became a math teacher, every day for math results. Now that he has become a rural science teacher, he wants to train 10 rural science teachers like him to bring the children to the future of their dreams happily.
"I know that my dream is very far away, but I really want to train a few scientists for the country, hoping that they can really become talents in the country's aerospace industry in the future. In Zhang Jiantao's eyes, the most precious thing is the children's scientific dreams, and he may not be so capable or strong now, but he wants to try his best to help the children take the first step towards science.
In fact, children, especially those in rural areas, need more laughter, which may not be brought when they only talk about book knowledge. Zhang Jiantao sighed, I hope that more rural teachers can give children more opportunities to contact science, hope that everyone will open their minds, accompany the children to be 'crazy', let him have more exposure to more sunlight, let the children roll on the lawn, let them run more on the playground, open a window for them, to understand the vast universe and the sea of stars. (Source: Poster News)