May 31, 2008
Heather, who blogs at OhMy StinkinHeck, proudly tells the blogosphere about her daughter Emelie’s efforts to earn some extra credit in science (with a great recycling twist). Emelie needed only 2 more points to have a 100% in science, and she was determined to get those points. But was she content with something mediocre, worth ONLY two points? Not this young woman! 
Emelie decided that her project would involve materials that were already around the house, and what she ended up with was a birdhouse that any environmentally conscious bird would be proud to call home. Using plastic bottles and lids, bubble wrap, leftover paint and wafer board, and a few other “odds and ends,” Emelie built a birdhouse like no other. We are ESPECIALLY proud of Emelie because she did this entire project herself. When a parent does any kind of project for a student, there is no deserved pride. Emelie did a wonderful job and she earned the praise she very naturally received. Way to go, Emelie. And thank you, Heather, for sharing …
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September 13, 2007
It’s official… I’m flying out to be a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show next week. Back in April of 2006 when a producer on the show originally contacted our office, I asked for your suggestions on experiments to do with Ellen. Lots of people suggested my Smoke Rings demo and Ellen might have taken your suggestion (hint, hint). Let’s just say that our office was filled with lots of smoke today as someone practiced shooting cups off of everyone’s head. We’re told that the air date will be next Friday, September 21, 2007. More to come.
Tags: Ellen Degeneres, Ellen Degeneres Show, experiments with ellen, giant smoke rings, Science, science experiment, Science Experiments, Science Video, shooting cups, Smoke Rings, steve spangler, Steve Spangler Science, teaching science, The Ellen Show
Filed under: In the News
July 11, 2007
Dropping a roll of Mentos into a bottle of soda used to be something that kids did for fun. Now adults are getting into the act. I opened my e-mail and received these cool pictures from the organizers of the event that took place on July 10th in Flower Mound, TX. Representatives from the Guinness World Records certified the record-setting effort, which went off at 6:30 pm inside the Circle R Ranch Rodeo Arena where 850 independent sales representatives from Books Are Fun, a Reader’s Digest Company, simultaneously dropped Mentos into 850 two-liter bottles of soda using the Geyser Tube Toy. The previous Mentos geyser record was set on May 24, 2007 in Cincinnati, Ohio when 504 Mentos-and-Coke geysers were set off. Watch the Video: The Largest Number of Simultaneous Mentos Geysers Please remember that you’re looking at 850 screaming adults… not kids… running away. Yes, learning is fun for people of all ages.
Tags: 504 Mentos and Coke geysers, Guinness World Records, Mentos, Mentos and Coke geysers, Mentos and soda, Mentos Experiement, Mentos Geyser, mentos geyser record, Science Video, steve spangler, Steve Spangler Science, The Largest Number of Simultaneous Mentos Geysers, YouTube video
Filed under: Mentos Geyser
July 11, 2007
I love Halloween. One of my favorite activities is to “carve” pumpkins using a simple reation inside the fruit. First, you carve the face then carefully replace pieces. After creating a reaction by generating a gas inside and igniting it (ask your local chemistry teacher for the details) the face pieces are blown off with a small explosion. Halloween is more than 100 days away and I just couldn’t wait. So I initiated the new weather anchor at the local Denver television station by introducing her to carving watermelons. The problem was, we didn’t really carve the watermelon, it exploded. Watch the Video to see how we skipped right over the carving and went straight to exploding.
Tags: Chemistry, Denver Television station, exploding watermelons, explosion, halloween, high school science fair projects, mad scientist, middle school science fair projects, pumpkin carving, pumpkin carving patterns, Science Education, science experiment, science fair experiments, science fair projects, science fair projects for kids, science fair topics, science for kids, Science in the Rockies, Science Teacher, science teachers, Science Video, steve spangler, Steve Spangler Science, watermelons
Filed under: Teaching Moments
July 8, 2007
Okay, it’s not science… but I’m so proud that I just had to share it. Mark and Scott are our twin 5 year old boys who have both taken a liking to magic. It probably doesn’t hurt to see their brother Jack (who is now 8 years old) performing his magic tricks on stage. I was recently invited to be a featured speaker at the SPLASH Summer Conference presented by Frog Street Press in Dallas, Texas. Mark and Scott performed this trick on stage in front of almost 1,700 teachers and they had a ball. The boys couldn’t understand why everyone was getting up to leave at the end of their trick. You’ll see why.
