I am honored to be invited to speak at the 2008 NSTA National Conference in Boston this March 27-30. In addition to the hundreds of concurrent sessions offered at the conference, NSTA hosts a number of professional development mini-conferences on specific areas of interest. I'll serve as the morning keynote speaker for the Science for Teachers of Young Learners Conference. This special day will provide PreK–2 teachers with hands-on science workshops, speakers, and other activities designed to help bring the joys of science to young students… or so the printed program says. Learn more about the Science for Teachers of Young Learners strand at the NSTA National Conference in March.

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All this week on TV, I had the opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at Denver-based companies who each have a cool science twist to their business. The scientists at Gates Corporation invited our cameras on a tour of the hydraulic testing labs at Gates where they demonstrated how engineers test high pressure rubber hoses for commercial use. During the segment, Joel Edwards, Vice President of Fluid Technology & Product Development and Larry Kachinski, Senior Lab Engineer pressurized a hose rated to 6,000 psi with a safety factor of 4:1. The loud burst produced a perfect rupture at nearly 28,000 psi! 

Watch the Video 

Anything that goes bang is fun, but… I was most impressed to speak with Joel Edwards, VP of Product Development, and his engineers who all share the same passion for getting students K-12 excited about careers in science and engineering. For more information about Gates Corporation, visit www.gates.com 

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Doubling the number of participants in science fairs is a personal goal of mine, mainly because of the approach taken to it by teachers.

We often tell kids that they have to participate in the upcoming science fair, but we haven’t shown them how to do it. It’s difficult to get good results when the process hasn’t been modeled and the expectations haven’t been spelled out. It’s like if we told them to go outside and play soccer while handing them a ball but they didn’t know how to play, let alone seen a game of it.

So, here’s one possible solution to the problem… The teachers at Wilder Elementary had each child in their respective class do the same experiment with guidance by the teacher. For example, each student in the second grade conducted the same plant growing experiment. The classroom teacher guided each student through the process, helped the student collect and interpret data and arrive at a conclusion that answered their starting question. The trial was a great success, involvement in the next science fair increased from previous years, and teachers were excited that the students were actually using the scientific method in a controlled setting. Sure, it’s guided inquiry… but only through practice can we as teachers ever hope to move our students to a self-guided level.

Full explanation of the “Science Fair Boot Camp” is available in the embedded podcast.

 

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Today's most asked question is… How did you get that much cornstarch for the Walk on Water demo on the Ellen Show? Sure, you could go to the store and ask customer service for 2,500 boxes of cornstarch, but the better solution might be purchasing a pallet of the white powder from a food distributor. Mixing the cornstarch with water is the next problem.

Watch the Cornstarch Water Walk Video

The Science Behind the Goo - Photos from the Ellen Show

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Mixing 2,500 pounds of cornstarch with the kitchen mixer just didn't work, so we had to find a cement truck… and a very cool cement truck mixing guy. Oh, and you also need three people who know exactly what the cornstarch mixer should feel like when it's perfectly mixed. Jeff, Carly and Renee served as the mixologists while I called the producer at the Ellen Show to let him know that we were ready to roll to the studio. 

Watch the Cornstarch Water Walk Video

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It's also a good idea to find someone in the audience who you've never met and trust that you won't let them sink into a pit of cornstarch goo. Watch the Cornstarch Water Walk Video View more photos at The Science Behind the Goo - Photos from the Ellen Show

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We just returned from taping the Ellen Show and we had a blast. As always, Ellen and her staff treated our entire team (four of us traveled to Burbank, CA in order to pull off the cornstarch demo) wonderfully. There are lots of pictures to share in the next few days and some fun things that happened as prepared for the Cornstarch Water Walk demo. There's also lots of chatter on the Ellen blog about people wanting to do the science demos they saw on television. We posted the links you need on our Ellen's Wild About Science page.

The web producers at the Ellen Show posted the video segments late this evening and the links are below…

Blinded Her With Science - A quick look at the classic iodine clock reaction and the exploding bubbles. As you might imagine, Ellen was wearing very good ear plugs and safety glasses.

Rehearsal Tape - People ask what rehearsal looks like. Here's producer Slade Abisror experiencing the exploding bubbles for the first time. If you can read lips, you know what his exact words were when the bubbles exploded.

Cornstarch Water Walk - One of the producers said, "Don't try this at home… unless you want to purchase 2,400 boxes of cornstarch and a giant tub." This sounds like a challenge!

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According to her producers, Ellen DeGeneres is still wild about science… and she wants to know what I might have up my sleeve for February 13th. During the first visit, Ellen changed her voice, triggered a eruption of oxygen bubbles and shot giant smoke rings at the audience. Ellen performed the famous Tablecloth Trick on the second visit, prepared food using liquid nitrogen and showed everyone an explosive way to carve pumpkins.

What's up for February 13th? The only thing we can say at this point is… beakers, bowls, light bulbs and a cement truck. Should be fun.

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