The Mentos Geyser made history once again as the star attraction at the NAEYC 2006 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the rumble of the crowd in the exhibit hall, you could hear someone from the Spangler Science booth yell, “GEYSER!” followed by a few screams and cheers of excitement. The “geyser” was actually the eruption of a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke powered by Mentos. As soon as people approached the booth and saw the mountain of soda and the display of Mentos, they knew what could happen… but most people didn’t believe that we would actually launch the geysers from behind the booth. Surprise!

Instead of just launching the Diet Coke just for fun sake, we used each opportunity to deliver a quick science lesson and followed it up by putting one of our Geyser Tube Experiments in each of the teacher’s hands. Out of the 11,000 people reported to be in attendance at the event, we personally handed out 7,000 Geyser Tube Experiments (which included a roll of Mentos). We even had a few guest “geyserists” take center stage in the booth and try their hand at a launch.

This is not the first time these educators had seen or performed our Mentos Geyser which was featured on stage three years ago in Anaheim, California at the 2003 NAEYC Conference. One teacher commented, “We’ve been doing this experiment for the past three years, and it took the rest of the world this long to catch up!”

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Popularity: 25% [?]

It was easy to see that this Steve Spangler session at the NAEYC 2006 Conference was going to be a little different. The stage was filled with the usual Spangler stuff… a vacuum cleaner, eggs, a saw, bowling balls, toilet paper rolls, giant bags, an aquarium of water, a violin bow, plenty of Alka-Seltzer, potatoes, Diet Coke and, of course, Mentos. Even before Bobbi finished the introduction, there were Mentos Geysers erupting and people running!

My thanks to everyone who attended my session at the NAEYC 2006 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. You’ll find links to the experiments and activities that I shared during the session as well as a few favorites that didn’t make it into the list of 20 Cool Science Activities Under $20. Click on the link below to download a PDF of the session handout:

Steve Spangler’s NAEYC 2006 Handout

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Popularity: 17% [?]

There is an urban myth spreading via the Internet that a little boy in Brazil died after eating Mentos and drinking Diet Coke. As far as we know this is just a rumor. I’ve checked with my Mentos contacts and no one can show any proof of this being true. The writers at snopes.com posted a great article on the Mentos reaction and even reference us as part of the scientific rationale for why the rumor isn’t true.

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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, “Great kids pick great parents”. After spending the afternoon together, I know that the world will be a little better off someday because of Harry, Alexandra and the Lee family.

It was great to have Harry and Alexandra as guests on the 4 O’Clock Show… and it was great to have made some wonderful new friends.

Watch Harry and Alexandra amaze you by viewing the video on this page.

 

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