I’ll have to admit that my Trash Can Smoke Rings routine is not only a signature staple in my stage show, but it’s become one of my all-time favorite science demos to perform. After presenting my smoke ring routine on the Ellen Show, I received a flood of e-mails with questions about the smoke machine and where to purchase the device. Unfortunately, the cost of a good smoke machine can be a deal breaker for many smoke ring enthusiasts. That’s why I’m hoping you try my latest variation… Smoke Bomb Smoke Rings.
As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s always fun to stumble across Quirkles videos on YouTube. These fun children’s books support connecting science and literature, which is one of our passions around Steve Spangler Science. This week, Quirkles co-founder Terri Johnson, headed back to Ozarks First KOLR 10 news to show off some of the cool properties of Oobleck… the cornstarch and water quicksand. Terri had a great time getting messy with the KOLR 10 anchor and even made mention of the growing popularity of walking on “water” with the gooey Oobleck. If you are a fan of Spangler Science or the Ellen Degeneres show, you probably remember when I stormed the stage of the Ellen show with a cement truck, a few hundred gallons of water, 2,500 boxes of cornstarch and a very brave audience member, who walked across a giant pool of Oobleck! It’s great to see Terri in her Spangler Science tie dye lab coat playing with the “Zop”! The set of all 26 wild and wacky Quirkles books can be bought on our site at SteveSpanglerScience.com.
As the first exclusive supplier of the Quirkles books, I was interested to see that Quirkles co-founder Terri Johnson was taking her science experiments to the airwaves… with a distinctively Spangler flair. Donning her Steve Spangler Sciencetie dye lab coat, Terri entertains viewers of the Ozarks First morning newscast. Terri’s latest appearance featured our Floating Beach Ball and Flying Toilet Paper experiment. Terri thoroughly surprised the news anchor when toilet paper was sent flying through the studio using the classic leaf blower trick. It’s great to see fellow scientists spreading the idea of making science fun throughout the country and it’s an honor to see that they are being inspired by our experiments.
It’s true that I find some of my best experiment inspiration in the hardware store. My team often likes to tell the story about spending five hours at Home Depot before a conference in Atlanta… don’t believe everything you hear. This Teflon Tape experiment is one of my favorites because young scientists get to use a pretty common household material to make their own secret messages. Check out the video below, then read the experiment for the whole story.
If you think back to your “show & tell” days, you probably brought your favorite stuffed animal or action figure to school. But some teachers are raising the bar by turning show & tell into more of a “demonstrate and learn,” and this little demonstrator is only five years old.
The Wilder Community Preschool is based in Littleton, Colorado and has an enthusiastic and knowledgeable team of teachers who focus on getting their children involved in their own learning on so many levels. I first introduced readers of this blog to the Wilder Preschool staff back in 2007 when I featured the staff on our 9News Mad About Science television segment. In terms of teaching science, the Wilder Preschool staff - Jane Carson, Julie Peterson and Betsy Henry - help their children build connections between clever science activities and real-world applications.
The budding young scientist pictured above - Science Guy Scott - is sharing a science experiment about finding the water-slurping powder in a brand new baby diaper. Believe it or not, toy manufacturers use the same water-absorbing powder (yes, it’s safe to touch and squeeze between your fingers) …
