Topic - Cool Products
Exciting Product Development - Color Changing Energy Beads Turn Green
I always know that the Spangler Science Product Development Team is going to hit a home run... but I was especially excited when they told me that we were going to have green Solar Beads available for the first time and as the only supplier on the internet. Maybe I went a little overboard suggesting that we find beads … Continue reading…Exciting Product Development - Color Changing Energy Beads Turn Green
I always know that the Spangler Science Product Development Team is going to hit a home run… but I was especially excited when they told me that we were going to have green Solar Beads available for the first time and as the only supplier on the internet. Maybe I went a little overboard suggesting that we find beads that match the colors for every holiday, but, really, who wouldn’t want UV Beads that turn black for Halloween? At any rate, we compromised and came up with some really exciting new kits that you can expect to see coming to SteveSpanglerScience.com in the near future. In the meantime, check out the video below to see what all the buzz is about for these amazing learning tools and check out some of my favorite Energy Bead experiments.
Science Fair Success - Oil Spill Clean-up Polymer
It’s fun to get these e-mails from the parents of kids who had a great science fair experience. Ken Landau shared these pictures from his son’s science fair project. Brett used the Oil Spill Clean-up kit as the foundation of his third grade science fair project.
Brett has a very real love of science, experimentation, and model building. He found your site and this experiment by himself and we both agreed it looked very interesting. Your site was very informative and your staff very helpful (even letting me add to my order after it was submitted online.) - Ken
Here’s how Enviro-Bond 403 Oil Polymer works… Just sprinkle a small amount of this polymer onto the layer of oil and in seconds the polymer bonds to the oil, forming a sponge-like material that can be easily removed from the jar of water. This polymer is specially formulated to bond quickly and safely to many types of liquid hydrocarbons including crude oil, diesel fuel and gasoline. The bonding is so complete that it literally encapsulates the liquid hydrocarbons in just seconds. Here’s an incredible solution to future oil spill disasters.
St. Patrick’s Day Science - Green Instant Snow
Since everything else is green on St. Patrick’s Day, why shouldn’t the snow be green, too? Watch the video to learn how to dye your Instant Snow…
You’ll need some Instant Snow powder, a few plastic cups, green food coloring and a stirring stick. Place 20-30 drops of green food coloring in an empty cup and add about a tablespoon (about 10 grams) of dry Insta-Snow powder to the cup. Use a stirring stick to mix the powder. The polymer will absorb the green food coloring, but it won’t fluff up. Add a few more tablespoons of the dry, white Insta-Snow powder to the green powder and continue to mix. Keep mixing in the dry Insta-Snow until you get the green color you want. When you’re ready to make green snow, place one teaspoon of dry, green Insta-Snow into a clean cup and add about 2 ounces (60 mL) of water. The erupting green snow will be a huge hit!
Magic or Science? Finally an Answer
No longer will I challenge the wisdom found on a t-shirt. What’s the difference between magic and science? Magic is just stuff science hasn’t made boring yet. You’ll find the shirt online at threadless.com
Clear Spheres Vanish Like Magic - Cool Video from Numb3rs
What do you see? A bowl of water? Yes, it’s a bowl of water, but it’s also filled with Clear Spheres - a water-absorbing polymer that soaks up 300 times its weight in water. It’s a science demonstration that many of us have done with our students to demonstrate the index of refraction. When you drop the hydrated spheres into the bowl of water, they vanish since the water-filled spheres have an identical index of refraction as the water in the bowl. This quick sequence was part of the opening scene on the show Numb3rs and used to illustrate things that are “hidden from our view.”
