April 8, 2007

500 Soda Geysers at NSTA Convention

Thousands of science teachers found their way to St. Louis for the 2007 National Science Teachers Association convention, and we wanted to make sure they had something to take back to their students. So, we loaded our trucks with experiments and products from the website along with 5,000 rolls of MENTOS stuffed into plastic test tubes and headed for the Gateway City. We were fortunate to have 14 teacher ambassadors from the Hands-on Science Institute join us in the booth to each share their favorite science activities. Aside from 500 bottles of Diet Coke and a mountain of MENTOS, all eyes were on the 18 foot tall soda eruption chamber. We were demonstrating the new Geyser Tube by triggering a MENTOS geyser as fast as we could set-up a launch (about every 2-3 minutes for 3 full days). At the end of the convention, the soda was gone, the rolls of MENTOS were in the hands of 5,000 teachers, the truck was cleaned out... and we all had a blast. It's back to the classroom for the 14 ambassadors to start working on cool stuff for … (more...)

January 15, 2007

Mentos Geyser Hits the Classroom… But Some Teachers Don’t Get It

It has the potential of being the most popular science fair project of all time. The Mentos Geyser is definitely fun to watch, but some teachers are missing the opportunity to use the activity to teach science. Over the last few weeks, I've received emails from students explaining that their teachers are forbidding them from doing the Mentos Geyser as a science project. Why? The common response is... "there's no science to blowing up pop." What? How did these teachers miss the rich science content that oozes from the bottle with every eruption? Combine the strong science with the student's motivation to want to use the scientific method and you've got an amazing activity. Brian Rice, a math teacher at Gwinn Middle School in Michigan, recently used the Mentos Geyser as a great teaching opportunity. As one of the experiments, the middle schoolers measured how high pop would spray when a Mentos candy is dropped into the pop bottle. In one day, eighth-grade classes and some seventh-grade classes conducted the Mentos and pop experiment with the objective to see whether different types of pops have greater eruptions. They ended up testing a total of 44 different varieties, ranging from … (more...)

August 31, 2005

The hardest thing about teaching science - not enough hours in the day

In a 2003 survey, elementary teachers said the hardest thing about teaching science was "I don't have enough time in the day"?. In that survey supervisors were asked the same question. Their responses related to not enough materials or staff development opportunities. The secret is if we are going to make science a priority in our classrooms, we have to integrate science into the curriculum. Listen to my podcast on teachers and time (File size is 0.5 MB) (Show length 2 minutes)

August 25, 2005

After school demos make great teachers

So you want to be an amazing teacher? Start with the parents. Back to school night is a great time to do some science demonstrations. Imagine yourself doing an experiment right in front of the parents' eyes, like filling a Ziplock bag with water, spearing the bag with pencils and the water doesn't come out. As you do this you weave a story around this demonstration about how you're taking their children whom they've entrusted in your care and taught them exciting new things. "Your children are our liquid assets, and it is my job to provide school 'SPEAR-it'...The secret is to make sure we don't lose any of those liquid assets." Then remind the parents: "You are giving your children to me for six hours of the day. Help me for the rest of the day to reinforce those five fundamental things I taught your child today to ensure that, after a year, your child is the best human being he or she can be." Incorporating demonstrations and storytelling is a very effective and simple way to communicate a message to parents. Listen to my podcast on after school demos (File size is 1.8 MB) (Show length 3 … (more...)

August 22, 2005

How to be an amazing teacher by taking the lid off the box

How to be amazing teacher? Try this! Get organized. The hardest thing is to take all the ideas we learn at conferences, workshops and seminars and put them to use. Don't put science demonstrations in a closed box - because they will stay there. Throw the lid away, so you constantly have to look at those materials. If they are staring you in the face, you are more likely to build them into your curriculum. Once you get organized, you start using your resources better. And you will be a more effective science teacher with those tools right at your fingertips. Listen to my podcast on how to be an amazing teacher by taking the lid off the box (File size is 1.1 MB) (Show length 4 minutes 4 seconds)