Tag - Irish Science Teachers Association

December 30, 2009

Best of Spangler Science 2009

It’s been quite a year for us at Steve Spangler Science… in fact, when the year starts out with 50 off your closest friends helping you wish Ellen DeGeneres a Happy Birthday, you know big things are in store.  Whether we were letting fans ride on the infamous Bed of Nails at NAEYC 2009 or launching trash cans with a police force audience, we can guarantee that 2009 was never boring.  We’ve compiled some of our favorite highlights from the year, so feel free to browse through them and go back with us as we reminisce about our favorite moments from 2009… can you imagine what 2010 has in store?

ellen-birthday-12-30-09Happy Birthday Ellen!

Our 2009 Boot Camp tour kicks off in Oklahoma City, with a great group of teachers.

Our team stormed Toy Fair and set off a few geysers in the process.

Steve Spangler Science Jelly Marbles were featured on the prime-time hit series Numb3rs.

I debuted what would become one of our most requested experiments… Laminar Flow.

The face of our Insta-Snow product, Arianne Heaton, headed to college, years after she was my student at Willow Creek Elementary.

Continue Reading…
March 20, 2009

Flying Potatoes in Ireland – Irish Science Teachers Focus on Student Engagement

We just arrived in Shannon, Ireland and we’re headed to the University of Limerick for the Irish Science Teachers Association meeting. I’ve had the great fortune of speaking at this conference twice in 1997 and 2000 where I made some fantastic friends in the science education world. When I spoke the first time in Cork, I can remember taking all of my demos over with me on the plane (oh how times have changed). Twelve years later, FedEx delivered my demos after signing my life away and, I’m happy to report, everything arrived in one piece. But there are a few things that are difficult to ship over for one reason or another. When I arrived at the University of Limerick today, I was greeted by Bob Kelly who had a 220 volt smoke machine in hand, a bag of balloons filled with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6 for the Reverse Helium demo), and a large trash can. I just can’t remember if I asked them to turn off the smoke

Continue Reading…
February 26, 2009

Science of the Irish – Off to Speak at the Irish Science Teachers Association

Back in July, I had the opportunity to be interviewed on an Irish talk radio program to talk about science, things that explode and the Mentos reaction. During the interview, I mentioned that I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at the ISTA (Irish Science Teachers Association) were I first showed the Mentos reaction in 1999. Several months later, I got a call from Jim McNamara from the ISTA with an invitation to join them in Limerick, Irleand for their 2009 conference.

I pulled my noted from my last lecture in Dublin for the ISTA 2000 conference and started to pull together an hour long program. Within a week of creating my set list, I got a call from the conference planners with their own list of demos that they had seen on YouTube.

Amazing… YouTube didn’t even exist a decade ago and today it’s a resource that is changing the way we teach. I’d much rather take over demos they want to see, but I wonder how we’re going to get the cement mixer and 2,500 boxes of cornstarch. We might have to resort to plan “B.”

July 1, 2008

Science Chat on Irish Talk Radio

Sean Moncrieff is the host of the Afternoon Show on Newstalk 106-108 FM in Ireland. This nationally syndicated show features news stories ranging from the serious to the zany… maybe that’s why they called. While waiting for my segment, I listened to the show and quickly realized how much I want to speak again in Ireland. I first lectured at the Irish Science Teachers Association in 1997 and again in 2000. I shared a few science demos and they taught me the finer points of drinking lots of Irish beer. Here’s my interview with Moncrieff.