It's been quite a year for us at Steve Spangler Science... in fact, when the year starts out with 50 off your closest friends helping you wish Ellen DeGeneres a Happy Birthday, you know big things are in store. Whether we were letting fans ride on the infamous Bed of Nails
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We are excited to announce our third partnership with SONIC Drive-In restaurants, SONIC Sliders 2. Starting in November, the books are available at a SONIC Drive-In near you. This time around, our Science Editor collaborated with SONIC to produce four, all-new Science Sliders as part of the SONIC Wacky
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Delia Zepeda, a teacher at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School in Coconut Grove, Florida made science fun at the school’s Family Math, Science and Technology Night in January.
The school celebrated its third year of getting kindergarten to third graders excited about science, math and technology.
Mrs. Zepeda shared their experience with all of us at Steve Spangler Science, “the wind bags were a big hit. We had so much fun watching the parents trying to blow them up the wrong way, we finally felt sorry for them and our student volunteers showed them the correct method.”
When you picture a tornado, most of us imagine a whirling column of air poking down from the clouds. Air tornadoes are created when warm air on the ground rises, and cool air comes in from above at a perpendicular angle. The hot air mixing with the cold air creates the rotation of a tornado. But not all tornadoes come from the sky.
Fire tornadoes are created when heated air from a fire rises and mixes with strong air currents (often whipping through the trees). This causes the air molecules to spin and shape the flame into the shape of a tornado. Firefighters are cautious of fire tornadoes because they can whip through the tops of trees catching other trees on fire. Watch the video for a cool demonstration on how fire tornadoes work.
Have you ever wanted to be a magician? Or do you want to impress your friends? All you need is a few Pyrex beakers, water, Wesson vegetable oil and Pyrex stir rods. The Wesson oil has the same index of refraction as a special kind of glass that has gone through a tremendous amount of heat called Pyrex. When you place the stir stick in the oil, it looks like the stick disappears in the oil. The secret behind this cool science experiment is the index of refraction.
Have you signed up for your school’s science fair but haven’t picked a science fair project? Or are you thinking about joining your science fair but don’t know where to start?
Participating in the science fair is an amazing opportunity to learn about the scientific method, ask questions, explore, make new discoveries and gain an understanding of how science works.
The start to a great science fair project is asking questions. Performing an experiment is not a science fair project.
To find a science fair project, browse through the experiment library and start asking questions like “why does it work that way,” “what if I did it this way?”
For example, dropping Mentos into Diet Coke is not a science fair project. It’s a science demonstration. Asking questions like “what temperature of Diet Coke will make the tallest geyser,” or “what soda makes the shortest geyser?” are good science fair projects.
Bubbles are magical and captivating. Who doesn’t like playing with bubbles? The key is the perfect bubble solution. Combining water and dish soap is good, but not perfect. Some people think glycerin and water works well. It’s still not perfect. If you are a serious bubblologist or bubble connoisseur, this recipe is for you. With this recipe, a secret and some imagination you will make big bubbles, bubbles inside bubbles and bouncing bubbles.
