There’s nothing that says “Christmas” more than a live Christmas tree with all the tinsel and trimmings in your living room. There’s also nothing that says “fire danger” more than a dried out tree that can easily catch a spark from a nearby candle.
The needles and branches on a Christmas tree give the tree a lot of surface area. Try to catch a 2×4 on fire and it’s not as easy as it sounds. Try to catch a pine needle or several pine needles on fire and they immediately ignite. Each needle has a lot of surface area to catch fire and burn. Each needle also allows for a lot of oxygen in nooks and crannies to help ignite and feed a fire.
Glow sticks are incredibly popular in the warm summer evenings. Almost as popular as during Halloween time. They are sold at many events and are found in stores everywhere. Steve Spangler Science also sells a few different varieties of glow sticks.
Kids love cracking them and watching the light glow like a firefly.
In watching blogs and sites like Pinterest for science experiments and activities to share, I have come across several how to’s that involve breaking open glow sticks. One involves adding the goo from glow sticks to bubble solution.
This is not a good idea.
Are glow sticks safe?
They are safe, as long as precautions are followed and the chemicals are kept inside. Cutting open a glow stick can also cause the broken shards of glass to fall out.
Packaging on glow sticks says they are non-toxic. However, the safety warnings on glow sticks read not to puncture or cut the plastic cover on the glow stick. Keep the chemicals contained, and glow sticks are a safe activity.
Glow sticks contain chemicals. Not deadly dangerous chemicals, but chemicals that should be handled and treated with respect.
I am frustrated. As our children grow up, they want to experiment. Explore. Discover. The internet is a wonderful tool to use in their education and growing independence. Growing up, I had to use encyclopedias, libraries, books. Now, everything is at our children’s fingertips. We all know dangers exist on the internet. Today’s kids have to learn how to navigate through the dangers and decipher the pitfalls. But what about when they are researching and learning? What if they are on a website aimed at children and their education? Will they recognize the dangers?
We get numerous requests to share how Steve does the Exploding Pumpkin demonstration. He is very clear that it is a demonstration, not an experiment, and does not give the chemicals or the instructions on how to do it yourself at home. It isn’t a magic trick or a secret. It is dangerous for children.
With knowledge comes power and with power comes responsibility.
Chemistry can be dangerous… and explosive. Mixing chemicals, discovering the flammable elements, and playing with fire; no wonder chemistry also involves safety goggles, hot pads,
Mad About Science™ salutes the propane scientists at AmeriGas, the nation’s largest supplier of propane tanks and cylinders. Greg Rice and Chris Selepec from AmeriGas demonstrated the science behind propane tanks and explained propane tank safety at their facility in Commerce City, Colorado.
Greg and Chris demonstrated that propane is both a gas and a liquid. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Like with natural gas, an identifying odor is added so it can be easily detected.
They showed how the liquid quickly boils off and turns into a gas and talked about the importance of checking for leaks on your propane cylinders at home. A recent house fire in Parker, Colorado was partially due to an improperly connected propane cylinder to a barbecue grill that was up next to the house.
For more information on how to check for a propane leak,
Curious Jane Camps are powered by girls. Or maybe they just run on girl power. Founder Samantha Razook Murphy, launched the all-girls camps last summer to encourage girls to explore the world around them. The camps are available in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia and Naples, Florida.
Curious Jane offers a wide variety of after-school and summer camps ranging from toy design, story arts, building, writing, lab science and rocket science. Yes rocket science.
Samantha, the mother of two girls, began Curious Jane to combine everything she loved about her education in graphic design along with everything she grew to value about an all-girls summer experience. Samantha has worked with girls for about 10 years and has seen the internal and external pressure placed on girls to get things right.
The goal with Curious Jane is to remove the fear of failure, not worry about the right answer and support girls in experimenting freely and widely in a variety of activities. The activities are process-oriented, not product-oriented. Above all, the most important goal of the camps is to have fun.
