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CORAL HARBOUR - Grade 5 teacher Robin Hatfield's teaching methods have shocked her students and almost made them want to vomit - and they've loved every minute of it.

Hatfield introduced her class to the elements of fear at Sakku school in Coral Harbour recently.

Grade 5 student Chantel Emiktowt does her best to enjoy a wormy-like substance during a Fear Factor Challenge at Sakku school earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Robin Hatfield

The class held a Fear Factor challenge in which the students made their way through 11 stations designed to test their minds over some tummy-turning matter.

To top it all off, Hatfield let her students believe the matter was real.

"I got the students to decide what they wanted and believe me when I say we talked about all kinds of rotten stuff," laughed Hatfield.

"The goblin vomit was the best because it was grey and murky with raisins and stuff floating around.

"They had to scoop stuff out with their mouths and drop it on a scale to see who got the heaviest load.

"They were convinced it was all real at the start, especially when the rubber cockroaches stuck to their faces."

Hatfield said the students loved every station and were having a ball trying to gross each other out.

She said a few dishes were so convincing some of the older kids in the room were starting to squirm.

"I noticed some of the parents were getting a little queasy, so I had to tell them we didn't use anything real - just really gross.

"I put juice in surgical gloves and added them to our punch so it looked like hands coming up out of it.

"The students picked the relay they wanted to do, even though they didn't know what each one entailed.

"We had a prize for everyone because they all took part."

The kids were also introduced to motion, force and static electricity this month.

Hatfield said the kids really enjoy the hands-on approach to learning.

She said the class has a talk before and after an event so the students understand what's happening when they use balloons to demonstrate static electricity, for example.

"The kids had a blast trying to make their hair stand up, producing sparks and going around trying to give little shocks to each other.

"We took off our shoes, turned out the lights and walked around scuffing our feet.

"Then we discussed why one person's spark was bigger than another's.

"The kids really learned a lot from the experiments, especially for an introductory lesson."