Should Ellen DeGeneres be worried that our team is bringing 4,000 ping pong balls to her studio for my appearance on Monday, April 26th? Based on the things that have fizzed, popped, caught on fire or exploded in the past, there’s no need for worry… right? It’s always an honor to be invited back on the show. Whenever Ellen’s producers call, we know that it’s going to be a crazy few weeks of planning and practice before heading out to the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.
I’ve always wanted to do something with a large number of ping pong balls, but never knew quite what to do. Thanks to a great brainstorming session with @carlyreed and @jefferybrooks, I think we have something that will be fun for Ellen and her audience.
It’s always an honor to be invited to emcee a fundraising event – especially when the cause is near and dear to your heart. Formal events like the Littleton Public Schools Foundation Spirit Celebration are big and classy and attended by people who really care about this amazing school district in Littleton, Colorado. As emcee, I was asked to keep the night moving with light commentary and to maybe do something “special” with four outstanding high school scholarship recipients – Aminta Menjivar from Littleton High School, Quinn Booth from Arapahoe High School, Lilliane Hubbell from Heritage High School, and Ian Paxson from Options High School. Take a look…
Nothing says “good job” better than a tiny cloud bath on stage at a formal awards ceremony. So, if you’re thinking about inviting me to emcee your event, you might want to reconsider.
Last year’s Weather & Science Day at Coors Field resulted in a new Guinness World Record for the Largest Physics Lesson. Thanks to support from the Colorado Rockies and 9News, the Steve Spangler Science team is excited to be a part of the 2nd Annual Colorado Rockies Weather and Science Day at Coors Field on May 12, 2010. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s in store for this year’s event.
The event is scheduled to kick-off at 10:30 a.m. when I’ll be joined by my good friend Kathy Sabine, meteorologist extraordinaire, from 9News (KUSA-TV in Denver). Over the years, I’ve subjected Kathy to every imaginable situation in an effort to create some new experience that makes science fun. This year, Kathy will share some of her best weather predicting secrets and teach us the science behind our most extreme weather in Colorado… and I’ll try not to blow her up.
“Every big science show deserves a few erupting concoctions and some really cool kabooms,” said Steve as he filled a large trashcan with liquid nitrogen. “But this is not going to be a sit-and-watch experience. Every person in the audience will
The Hawaii Academy of Science wraps up their annual science fair today – a science fair that almost didn’t happen.
As part of its spending cuts, the state of Hawaii eliminated $250,000 in annual funding that financed school, district and state science fairs that then sent winners onto international competition.
The academy hosted a fund raising drive to help save the science fair in Hawaii. Over 12,000 students participate in science fairs a year in Hawaii.
This year’s fair happened thanks to donations, but future fairs remain in question. The academy hopes to get a main sponsor for the fair to maintain a steady level of support for years to come.
In the 53 years of the fair in Hawaii, around 350,000 students have participated and many have gone on to have very successful, prestigious science careers.
A new report from the Consortium on Chicago School Research shows the act of increasing graduation requirements in science for high school students does not necessarily help them grow their science knowledge.
In 1997, the Chicago Public School District increased the science requirement to graduate from one year of science to three.
The policy change was in response to CPS graduates not taking enough courses to prepare them for college and to respond to the overall concern in America that students fall behind other nations in math and science.
The new policy did increase students’ science coursework. Before the change, less than half passed three or more college-prep science courses. After the change, almost all graduates passed at least three full-year science classes.
Students headed to college and earning B averages or higher, were more likely to take three years of science and succeed in them, but only 19 percent of students were in this category. That left 5 out of 6 students earning C’s or lower and graduation rates also declined after the new policy went into effect.
