Exploding Water Experiment Hits Home for Reader

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‘Tis the season for spending time in the kitchen making those holiday feasts. So, when we were choosing a timely experiment to send in our Experiment of the Week email, we figured that Exploding Water in the Microwave was a great choice to make sure everyone had a safe and happy holiday.  Our choice was affirmed when a reader took the time to let us know about the value of this experiment…

I was very interested to receive the email about water from the microwave exploding. Let me tell you my story. I make a pot of coffee in the a.m. and then just reheat it in a mug throughout the day. I have done this for many years. Several months ago, without any thought, I went through my usual routine coffee heating, same mug, same power, same time as always. When completed, I set the mug on the counter and, as always, added a spoonful of powdered coffee creamer. The reaction was unbelievable and so fast that, initially, I could not comprehend what had happened. There was literally coffee everywhere in my kitchen and all over

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Cup Cakes For Science

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Preparation for standardized testing has taken a lot of the fun out of the classroom, but good teachers will find a way to sneak the fun back in. REALLY good teachers will sneak the fun back in and teach some awesome lessons at the same time! Science teachers frequently say, “I love all the activities you do, like being able to make slime, or make water float in a bottle, but of the 220 activities you taught us, only a handful were allowed in my school curriculum. There just isn’t enough time for science because it’s not on the big test!” A colleague went to her principal and asked: “If it is not in school time, but in private time, do you mind if I teach science?”? The principal agreed. On average, an elementary teacher spends about 15 minutes per child per year on his/her birthday, and each year that time grows shorter. That’s why “Cup Cakes for Science” was born. The kids were offered a choice between a traditional party or a science party where the birthday child gets to be helper. After one party, the …

Science Experiment Receives Lots of Feedback

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A few weeks ago on my 9News segment I featured a Seven-Layer Density column. It’s a colorful way to talk about density in the classroom. Well… we thought we had all of our facts straight, but when we inadvertently put in the experiment write-up that oil and water don’t mix because they have different densities, my email box was flooded with concerned teachers, parents, administrators and more, who wanted to set the record straight. Yes, it’s true, oil and water don’t mix because of their intermolecular polarity, not because of density. I love when people actually get involved with the experiments we are posting and care enough about the information to let me know when it isn’t quite up to par. So, we had our density problem solved, it would seem the Seven-Layer column had experience its fifteen minutes of fame, but, no… this one just wouldn’t die. The day after my news segment, some of our staff noticed that the vegetable oil and rubbing alcohol layers had switched places! Knowing the great response we received before, we opened it up to …

Experiment of the Week Travels to Germany

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It’s great to get your e-mails and photos of your children and students doing the science activities featured in our Experiment of the Week. These photos are from Sheila Allen, just one of a number of great teachers in the Department of Defense Schools at Ramstein AFB in Germany. Sheila writes… “Well today was the big day and boy did the children have fun! I think my favorite was the Expanding Ivory Soap activity, and I picked just the right kid to trick with the Do Not Open Bottle. We were doing an A-Z countdown to the end of school and so for E we did experiments, and we thought your activities really hit the high point for us! There are 9 kindergarten classes at Ramstein Elementary school (K-2) , and it is a good place for science to happen.” Sheila Allen and her team of mad scientists are a great example of how early childhood teachers are having an incredible impact on the science concepts that young children are being exposed to in the early years of their education. Over the last 15 years, I’ve seen countless examples …

Experiment of the Week Goes To Hong Kong

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Suzi Wong Swint bought a heating pad in Hong Kong and realized, when she got it home, that the instructions were in Chinese! Fortunately, she remembered what to do to activate the gel and heat the pad, thanks to the Experiment of the Week.

“Thanks to your newsletter I realized that the small metal disc floating in the supersaturated solution needed to be bent to start the crystallization process (which was very fun to watch!!), and I knew just what to do to get the solid crystallized pack back into solution!!”

To quote Ms. Swint one more time: “Science Applied!”

Over the years, we’ve had some fun Experiment of the Week stories - strange information that found a real-world application. One of my favorites happened a few years ago to a teacher living in Pueblo, Colorado who used Insta-Snow to get out of a speeding ticket. Do you have a good story that you’d like us to share?