One of my favorite science demos leading up to the holidays is the Vanishing Styrofoam Peanuts. As you’ll see in the video below, the better choice is the more eco-friendly starch-based packaging material. As you shop online this season, some retailers even give the customer the choice of Styrofoam or starch packaging material, but the truth is that most people don’t understand the difference. Hopefully this helps…
It’s tough to really demonstrate the Mentos Geyser Tube in an exhibit hall filled with teahcers… until we created the Mentos Geyser Chamber. It’s a plastic box that measures 4 feet square and 7 feet tall. It’s the perfect enclosure to launch off a few hundred Mentos Diet Coke geysers. The only other thing you need is someone to stand inside the box for a few hours. Most of the time, Drew Vriesman is an undergraduate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, studying marketing. But when he puts on his intern hat at Steve Spangler Science, he’s never quite sure what to expect. Drew Vriesman and Taylor Marsh took turns launching geysers at the NAEYC 2008 conference in Dallas. Combined they launched 700 erupting Diet Coke geysers using over 4,000 MENTOS® Chewy Mints. The interns spent about 20 hours in the Geyser Box over three days and entertained (or amused) about 15,000 teachers who stopped by the Steve Spangler Science booth.
If you’ve ever wondered how those antacids really work inside your stomach, the Milk of Magnesia demo is easy to perform and really illustrates the concept of pH change and the buffering power of magnesium hydroxide. I first saw the demonstration performed by Sue Ann Berger during a Flinn Morning of Chemistry many years ago. She originally called the demonstration M.O.M. to the Rescue, and the audience reaction from her standing room only crowd was fantastic. The Milk of Magnesia demo is a favorite among chemistry teachers because of the visual way it teaches the buffering action of magnesium hydroxide. I recently shared this cool science demo on 9News.
Read the Color Changing Milk of Magnesia Experiment
Watch the Milk of Magnesia Experiment Video
Continue Reading…9News meteorologist Becky Ditchfield is never quite sure what to expect during the weekly science segment. I called her over the weekend and asked her to bring in an overcoat and to trade out the high heels for tennis shoes. The liquid nitrogen explosion surprised everyone…
Spangler introduces Tim and Megan to Insta-Snow and "reverse helium"
The news anchors at Fox 4 News in Dallas wanted to see if I could find a few ways to make science fun on their Good Day show. Let’s see… I could show them pictures of my science project from 3rd grade… or discuss freezing point depression… or make it snow and change their voices. I’ll pick door number 3. As you’ll see in the video, we covered the interview counter with erupting Insta-Snow and allowed Tim and Megan to experience the “reverse helium” effect using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
This appearance on Good Day Dallas is the kick-off to a week of science workshops and presentations at NAEYC and the Texas Association of Science Teachers annual convention.
