Students at Myers Elementary School may have described science as boring or hard before, but after Thursday's lesson, they're probably using a new adjective — cool.

On Thursday, the fourth- and fifth-grade students at the school on Candler Road took a field trip to their parking lot for a unique science lesson aboard a Mobile Discovery Center.

"The (center) is sponsored by the National Science Center and the U.S. Army," said Ginny Barber, a Myers instructor. "The classroom is housed in an 18-wheeler, and it travels the country to show students that studying science and math is fun as well as essential to their future."

During their hourlong lesson, the students learned about a variety of science topics, including chemistry, physics and even physiology.

"We learned that lightning can be all sorts of colors because of the different gases in the universe," said Jacky Vera, a student in Melissa Smith's fourth-grade class.

"We also learned that if you stare at something for 10 seconds, close your eyes and look at it again, you'll see it in different colors," added Cameron Randolph, another fourth-grade student. "You'll see their
negative colors."

The "negative," or inverted, colors Cameron referred to were part of the lesson about the function of the different parts of the eye, taught by Sgt. 1st Class Henry Ayala, who was the instructor with the mobile center.

"Any time you stare at a color for a long time, your eyes get tired and you begin to see the opposite of that color," Ayala said.

To demonstrate that point, he had the students stare at a black dot in the center of a white image on a black background. After 10 seconds, when they began to blink rapidly, the students saw a black image on a white background, which revealed the silhouette of the Mona Lisa.

The mobile centers are staffed by the Army and include both a classroom space for hands-on demonstrations and an area for interactive exhibits.

The 18-wheeled classrooms travel around the country sharing science-based lessons with elementary through high schools students.