A few weeks ago on my 9News segment I featured a Seven-Layer Density column. It’s a colorful way to talk about density in the classroom. Well… we thought we had all of our facts straight, but when we inadvertently put in the experiment write-up that oil and water don’t mix because they have different densities, my email box was flooded with concerned teachers, parents, administrators and more, who wanted to set the record straight. Yes, it’s true, oil and water don’t mix because of their intermolecular polarity, not because of density. I love when people actually get involved with the experiments we are posting and care enough about the information to let me know when it isn’t quite up to par.

So, we had our density problem solved, it would seem the Seven-Layer column had experience its fifteen minutes of fame, but, no… this one just wouldn’t die. The day after my news segment, some of our staff noticed that the vegetable oil and rubbing alcohol layers had switched places! Knowing the great response we received before, we opened it up to our readers for their thoughts on what was happening with our column. Posted below is what you had to say…

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What happens when you put 150 teachers from 23 states and three countries in the same room for three days with a team of instructors who are over-the-top excited about teaching science? Enthusiasm for making science fun spreads like a virus. Concerns about test scores, curriculum changes or the ever-changing pressures of being a teacher seem to vanish. For three days, these teachers put their worries aside and focus on ways to bring wonder, discovery and exploration back into their classrooms. Here’s a glimpse at what happened at Science in the Rockies this year…

Not all of the participants who come to Science in the Rockies start out loving science. Hilary Vanderveen admits she was a student who didn’t like science all that much, but this experience taught her how to avoid that attitude in her classroom. Vanderveen believes the key is raising the “I wonder factor” in her students’ minds as they approach various scientific questions.

To the untrained eye, it might look like teaching science is all fun and games, but there’s a serious side to all of this fun. Many of the participants at this year’s event shared the same fears and concerns that were raised even three years ago - science education is slowly becoming an extra-curricular activity in many schools across the country. With so much pressure being put on reading, writing and math scores on state achievement tests, some elementary teachers are forced to put science on the back burner until early Spring when state testing in other curriculum areas is finished. With help from the instructional team at Science in the Rockies, our goal is to help teachers focus their efforts on integrating science into their everyday

curriculum.

Wendy Liddell came all the way from New Zealand to Science in the Rockies to bring back ideas for the science class she teaches in Singapore. “When a teacher is inspired by science, the children are inspired. Children’s minds are the most wonderful gift that we have. The children that we teach today are our future. The ideas, the philosophies and the inspirations that we give them will be the world that we have in the next century,” says Liddell.

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It’s probably the most asked question we get… “How exactly does that experiment with the Mentos and Diet Coke really work?” From the outset (nearly eight years ago), we hypothesized that the exploding soda was a physical reaction, and the key factor in the release of carbon dioxide was the microscopic pits on the surface

of the chewy mint. However, there was no real scientific study that anyone could point to as the definitive answer… until now. In the June issue of the American Journal of Physics, Tonya S. Coffey, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Appalachian State University, in Boone, N.C., and her team of fearless physics students reported on the ingredients, temperature dependence, duration, and other parameters of the suddenly famous Mentos-Diet Coke reaction.

There has been considerable debate over gum arabic (found in the coating of the mint) and the role it plays in the physical reaction. Coffey’s group was able to confirm that the surfactant gum arabic is a key component of the reaction: It reduces surface tension, thereby allowing the soda’s carbon dioxide to make an especially rapid escape from the bottle.

The diet beverage’s aspartame and potassium benzoate provide a one-two punch to further reduce surface tension and ease bubble formation. This dynamic duo is more effective than sugar and creates a bigger explosion.

Read more about the Soda-Candy Explosions in the Chemical & Engineering News.

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What makes a good science fair, a good school, a good science lesson? Hands-on exploration and discovery are a great start and never forget to instill a sense of wonder and curiosity in our students.

Without enthusiasm and even a little risk sometimes, learning can quickly become a dead end street. Where there’s boredom, there’s danger.

No worries about any of that here, though. The teachers who have contributed to this week’s Carnival of Education are all of those good things… and MORE.

Let’s visit some of them, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »

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We love it when people read our blog, try the cool and funky things we suggest, have tons of fun doing it, and SUCCEED!

Mamacita of Scheiss Weekly tried our Upside-Down Tomatoes and so far, it’s been a BIG HIT out there in southern Indiana.

We might suggest that she find a better place to put that sharp box cutter, though. Watch your fingers, Mamacita!

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In our continuing quest to find interesting blogs and bloggers, we ran into Leah Simmers Photography Blog, where she was capturing her experience with Mentos and Diet Coke. Thanks to Leah for letting us share some her unique geyser pictures here. Check out Leah’s full blog post here. And yes, that is the Geyser Tube she’s using to launch that screaming geyser.

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Over the years, the exploding pumpkin demo is right up there at the top of my short list for my all time favorite, crowd-pleasing science demonstration. But who wants to wait a whole year just to do the demo again? That’s why we’re working on the fine art of watermelon carving… with the aid of a tiny chemical reaction… okay, it’s an explosion. We just substituted a big, juicy watermelon in place of the pumpkin and pulled the trigger. Since the walls of a watermelon are not necessarily as strong as a pumpkin, sometimes the whole darn thing explodes… but that adds to the fun. Check out the video. (If the video doesn’t play, click on Exploding Watermelon Experiment.)

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Sean Moncrieff is the host of the Afternoon Show on Newtalk 106-108 fm in Ireland. This nationally syndicated show features news stories ranging from the serious to the zany… maybe that’s why they called. While waiting for my segment, I listened to the show and quickly realized how much I want to speak again in Ireland. I first lectured at the Irish Science Teachers Association in 1997 and again in 2000. I shared a few science demos and they taught me the finer points of drinking lots of Irish beer. Here’s my interview with Moncrieff.

 

 Newstalk - Ireland [11:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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