It was raining rockets on the playground at Wilder Elementary. As part of their study of space, the fourth graders built their own rockets out of nothing more than paper, tape and a little clay. But prior to putting on their rocket science hats, the students studied Newton’s Laws of Motion and experimented with inertia, friction and building some simple balloon-powered rockets in class. Last night’s homework was in the form of a challenge: Build a rocket that will fit around a piece of 1/2″ PVC pipe. Read more about the rocket launcher.

As an introduction to blogging, the fourth grade students were given the task of posting their first blog entry about their rocket launch experience. They were encouraged to write about their classroom experiences yesterday while studying Newton’s Laws of Motion (yes, they learned how to whip the tablecloth out from under the dishes) and today’s rocket launch. You can read their comments below.

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When the phone rings, we never know quite what to expect. The phone rang and on the other end was a senior producer at the Ellen Show (you know… Ellen DeGeneres). It seems that this producer had been watching a few of our science videos and wanted to know if Ellen would have fun making huge clouds with liquid nitrogen, shooting potatoes, whipping up a batch of slime or learning how to make toilet paper fly. My response was “yes” to all of the above. But maybe it’s best if you help us decide which science experiments would be most fun to do with Ellen. Of course, the goal of the segment is to show parents how to make learning fun… and what could be more fun than 50 gallons of Insta-Snow erupting on the set?

Now this doesn’t mean that I’m automatically on the show… they’re just interested. So, what cool science demos should I pitch to the producers at the Ellen Show?

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In response to a question about triggering the soda eruption, here’s an experiment from the Fizz Factor book using Wintergreen Lifesavers and dental floss.
The Ultimate Eruption II - Another minty variation of the Ultimate Eruption””guaranteed to send your friends and family running for cover! Here’s what you’ll need…

• 2-liter bottle of diet soda
• 6 Wintergreen Lifesavers®
• Towel and/or a mop (by now, you know how useful these can be)
• Electric drill or large nail
• Dental floss
• Tape

1. Carefully open the bottle of diet or club soda, so it doesn’t fizz too much.
2. Have an adult drill a hole (the width of a pencil) in the top of the plastic, 2-liter bottle cap. If you don’t have an electric drill, punch a hole in the cap with a large screw or nail.
3. Unwrap 6 of the Wintergreen Lifesavers and loop a 2-foot piece of dental floss through the holes. Tie the dental floss tightly around the Lifesavers, leaving the end of the dental floss free.
4. Thread the free end of the dental floss through the bottom of the bottle cap and pull the Lifesavers tightly against the cap. Tape the floss to the top of the cap, so the Lifesavers stay in position.
5. As in the previous activity, find a large space in the middle of an abandoned field, or on a huge lawn. Time for crowd control! Warn the spectators to stand back.
6. Very carefully, replace the cap on the top of the 2-liter bottle and tighten it. Make sure that the Lifesavers are still tucked snugly into the cap so they don’t touch the surface of the diet soda.
7. Get ready””and””loosen the tape on the top of the cap! When the Lifesavers hit the soda, you’re in for an incredible show! The bottle shoots like a fire hose because of the restriction of the smaller hole.

The reason why the soda erupts with such gusto has something to do with the tremendous number of nucleation sites on the porous Wintergreen Lifesavers. Remember that a nucleation site provides a place for bubbles of carbon dioxide gas to adhere. In this case, the nucleation sites are all over the surface of the breath mints. If enough carbon dioxide molecules gather in one place within a bottle of soda they form a bubble, but these bubbles cannot form without a place to adhere. In other words, the dissolved carbon dioxide gas molecules in the soda make a mad dash for the nucleation sites on the breath mints and form big bubbles that burst out of the liquid.

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Houston, we have lift-off! Fifth graders from Mrs. Heaton’s class at Willow Creek Elementary invited me to participate in their annual paper rocket launch. The rockets were made from construction paper, tape and clay… that’s it. No engines or explosives in these rockets - the only fuel was 30 pounds of air pressure. I learned how to make the rocket launcher several years ago while speaking to teachers at Space Camp for Educators in Huntsville, Alabama. The morning started with each student making their first launch. Some of the rocket designs were great while others just blew up on the launch pad. It was back to the drawing board as the students reanalyzed their designs, fixed the flaws and headed out for the second launch. The success rate for the second launch was well above 80%… and the young rocket engineers were amazed to see their success.
The greatest learning moment of the entire morning was the numerous failures the students experienced on their first attempt.

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It’s a classic experiment and a sure-hit favorite around Easter. Soak a raw egg in vinegar and over the course of time, the vinegar will dissolve the eggshell. What you’re left with is the egg’s translucent membrane to protect the egg. Even though it’s a classic, I’ve never done this demo on the television show because it takes so long for the eggshell to dissolve in vinegar (about 7 days). But this year I had to try something new. What about substituting 3 molar hydrochloric acid for vinegar? The goal is to dissolve the calcium carbonate in the egg shell and 3M HCl should do the trick. The first attempt was a success, but I stumbled upon a great technique at the same time. Instead of doing the reaction in a beaker, I put the egg in a 1000 mL graduated flask and cover the egg with 150 mL of 3M HCl. This makes the reaction easy to see and very controllable. As the acid dissolves the egg, carbon dioxide gas is produced and a white foam of calcium chloride slowly rises in the cylinder. When the reaction is complete (you’ll see the naked egg), rinse the egg and… Voila… you got a naked egg! Watch the video.

Before you flood the post with comments, I know that hydrochloric acid is not in the kitchen chemist’s bag of goodies. But you have to share something for the chemistry teachers every once in a while.

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The National Science Teachers Association hosted a special day for PreK-2 teachers who want to make science more fun, more hands-on and more integrated into their teaching experiences. The Science for Young Learners Day was the brainchild of Bill Ritz, Professor Emeritus at California State University and the Conference Chairperson for the 54th Annual NSTA Conference in Anaheim, California (April 6-9, 2006). Bill Ritz and his conference planning committee invited me to help them kick-off the day as their morning keynote speaker.

Download a special handout from the morning keynote.

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