PLACENTIA : High-Tech Comes to El Dorado High

Most high school students have the opportunity to learn about lasers, robotics and wind tunnels from textbooks in science classes, but students at El Dorado High School can actually use these technologies in class.

The school’s technology lab opened this semester, replacing a metal shop that was filled with outdated equipment. The lab has 17 different modules, each featuring a different technology.

About 60 students have signed up for the two classes offered this semester. During the course of the semester, they will work for 10 days at eight of the modules, learning about the principals behind the technology and sampling how it is used in real-world applications.

Instructor Larry Eynon said the course is designed to make technology non-threatening by using a quick-hit, hands-on format for each discipline. The purpose isn’t to make students proficient in any one technology but rather to expose them to a variety of fields.

After carefully placing a clear plastic container filled with blue water on a white table, freshman Tim Cahill uses a photometer to measure the intensity of a laser through the liquid. Getting a reading, he replaces the blue water with a salt solution, then a container of sugar water.

When he completes the laser module, Cahill should have an understanding of both how laser works and its application in medicine, manufacturing and other real-life fields.

“This is much more fun than just sitting in a class hearing a teacher talk about lasers,” said Cahill, 14. “I think you learn more this way.”

Cahill said he signed up for the course after hearing about the expensive equipment that went into it. The fast-paced module format means there is just enough time to get a sense of a technology but not enough time to get bored, he added.

“I figured it was a good way to find out what I might like to do later,” he said.

Initially the course will be open to all students, but Eynon said eventually it will be offered to just freshman and sophomores.

“The class is really an introductory course, designed to get students thinking about where their interests are,” Eynon said. “Hopefully from here they can take other courses that will expand that interest.”

Many of the students in the class said they were interested in careers in science fields that would make use of the technologies they were studying. But at least one student has found a more immediate application.

“I really want to learn how (an engine) works,” junior Ryan Sparks said. “I need to know so I can build a go-cart.”