April 15, 2008

Shooting Potatoes with Ellen

There's a sneak peek video just posted on the Ellen Show site with the Dancing Fire demo and the last part of the shooting potatoes segment. If you have a second, post a comment on the show site.

April 9, 2006

Science for Young Learners Conference - A New Venture for NSTA

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. (more...)

August 29, 2005

Indonesian boy flies to Colorado to assist with Spangler Science

About six months ago, 12-year-old Harry Lee contacted me via email. He said he found the "Spangler Science" section on 9NEWS.com and started his own science club in Indonesia. Harry watches the experiments on his computer and then re-creates the fun with his club. Over the past few months, Harry and I have exchanged emails and even talked on the phone - I could tell that there was something special about this young man... he was amazing. I received a call 3 weeks ago from Harry - he was attending the Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG) at Amherst. I told Harry that I'd love to see him if he ever makes his was to Colorado. The phone rang later that night... it was Harry Lee. "My parents would like us to meet... so I'm coming to Colorado on August 29th." WOW! I told Harry that I'd like to have him as a guest on 9NEWS to do one of his favorite experiments. Today, I meet the Lee's for lunch - Harry, his sister Alexandra and his parents Lilly and Keat - and I know I understand why they say, … (more...)

August 16, 2005

Active things parents can do to help kids learn science

It doesn't all rest in the hands of the teacher. If you are a parent there are some active things you can do to help your kids prepare for a lifetime of science or inquiry. Help by reinforcing what your teacher is doing in class. When your son or daughter comes home after doing a science experiment and it gets to the dinner table, it must be good. Instead of saying "I know that"? when your son or daughter says "Do you know that an orange will float, but if you peel an orange it will sink"? try saying "That is not true! An orange won't float! That's impossible!"? Your child will beam from ear to ear because they have got something on you. In other words, allow your son or daughter to own the discovery. It is one of the most motivating things you can do to reinforce what the teacher is teaching in the classroom. Act surprised and you will be amazed. Listen to my podcast on active things parents can do to help kids learn science (File size is 1.5 MB) (Show length 3 minutes 9 seconds)

June 21, 2005

Potato Gun Fun

I just completed a segment for television on the "power of air". How else to better demonstrate "power" than to have a little fun with a potato gun. Now before anyone gets bent out of shape because I'm doing something so "unsafe", take a look at the video to see how this potato launcher works. The original design was actually created by a great chemistry teacher from Naperville, Illinois by the name of Lee Marek. It's really a great way to demonstrate Boyle's Law. Behind the scenes... Remember that most of the work I do on television is live. There's no retakes or editing - what you see is what you get, and rarely do I ever get a chance to practice with any of the other news anchors. If you watched the video, you saw that Mark Koebrich and I had a blast on camera, but that's all you saw "on camera". What you didn't see was the camera man, director, audio technician and the security guard all shooting potato plugs in the 9NEWS backyard. Funny how a simple little device can bring the kid out in all of us. But I … (more...)