In one cup of Gravi-Goo there is about four million linked molecules. The long strands of molecules are called polymers. Pour the liquid from cup to cup and the long strand of molecules will pull each other along, or siphon from one cup to another. They are so determined to stay together, that they will pull each other uphill.
After experimenting with the Gravi-Goo, Steve and his sons threw the mixture away. (You don’t want to pour it down the drain.) A little bit of goo hung over the side of the trash can. The next morning, a large pool of Grav-Goo sat on the floor. As the small blob of molecules began to fall from the trash can to the ground, they pulled their friends along and siphoned out of the trash can.
Ryan Flach is a United States Peace Corps Education Volunteer who is currently serving in a small town in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines.
While serving in the small town of Sibalom, Antique since 2010, Ryan teaches a reading and writing class at a national high school.
Ryan teaches children who live in a tropical region of the world and who have never seen or experienced snow. He has tried to explain the magic of snow, but the kids have a hard time comprehending it without seeing or touching it.
My school’s Science teachers have yet to use the powder with their classes, but I’ve had several opportunities to share it with my classes. Virtually every time we encounter anything about winter, the Insta-snow adds an element of experience that would otherwise be left solely to their imaginations. This is passable for the students that are privileged to have television at home, where they can watch American movies about Christmas, but many students don’t have a television in their house.
During a recent class, Ryan read the short story “A Day’s Wait” by Ernest Hemingway. It’s a story about a young boy and his
If you have kids, you’ve seen the commercials – buy a magic powder, add it to the bath and have a squishy bath. Squishy Baff works when you fill the bath with water, add a special colored powder, and the bath water turns to a soupy, mushy, squishy bath. Then have the kids climb in and have fun.
One of our favorite bloggers Sarah, from Moose and Tater, asked us to do a little work and figure out the science behind this product. We took the challenge and started in with our research.
Squishy Baff – the powder that turns your bath into squishy fun is most likely a polymer. Polymers are long chains of molecules. Water absorbing polymers soak up water through osmosis and swell to a larger size. The polymer chains have an elastic quality, but they can stretch only so far and hold just so much water.
Most common synthetic polymers are said to be hydrophobic (water-fearing), which means that they do not absorb water. Examples
Barbecue grills are a big part of summer and especially the end of summer over Labor Day weekend. With a barbecue or charcoal grill, food is cooked over a flame. Where there is fire, there is an inherent danger. In this week’s video from 9News, Steve explains how a common mistake can have tragic results.
Occasionally during the summer barbecue, lighter fluid erupts in the hands of the chef. This happens when the fuel is sprayed onto a barbecue or charcoal fire, the flames ignite the liquid and travel up to the bottle. As the squeeze bottle is released, the flame is sucked inside, along with oxygen. The chef thinks they are ok, because the flame is no longer visible, but the flame, along with the fuel and oxygen create the perfect environment and explode.
Firefighters warn of this danger using lighter fluid
The Denver Children’s Museum offers fun activities right outside their doors this summer in an exhibit called Just Add Water.
Kids will get wet, drip and splash in this hands-on exhibit. It’s learning through play and there are even a few water geysers throw in.
This is a summer-only event and only goes for a little while longer before closing for the season. But don’t worry, Just Add Water will be back in the summer of 2013.
