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.
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?
… and when the smoke cleared Judson Laipply was gone.
Oh, you want the rest of the story? I first met Judson over the summer while we were both booked to speak at the same conference. When he mentioned he was coming out to Colorado in August, we made plans to get together. I got a text message from Judson that said, “Hey… do you want to do a video when I come out?” Given the well-known fact that I’m no dancer, you can imagine my apprehension about doing a video. Fast-forward to the day he stopped by to say hi and to check out our offices. When we toured our lab (some call it the playroom), I asked Judson, “Have you ever danced when explosions were going off next to you?” The answer turned into the video… let’s do it!
While Judson ran out to the car to grab his Orange Crush t-shirt, I pulled together a few science demos that I thought could be interesting… and not kill the dancer. I should mention that Judson was passing through Denver on his way to a gig in Wyoming – that’s why he had the t-shirt and music in his
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Here’s today’s Twitter question to our demo team – “Tried the liquid nitrogen cloud we saw you do on Ellen at our museum. Nearly froze our feet off. What’s the secret?” Funny thing… we experienced that too. After presenting the liquid nitrogen cloud demo a hundred times or so, we learned that it’s really important to find a way to protect your feet. Open toe sandals are a no-no, tennis shoes can get wet and freeze instantly (we learned that the hard way) and hiking boots are so attractive (maybe not). So what’s our secret? Ugg Boots I wish I could say that these shoes have an amazing cold-resistant, space-age liner, but I think that they’re just cool boots that keep the cloud maker’s little toes from falling off.
Oh, and so the lawyers don’t get upset, this is not an invitation or a recommendation that you should try the liquid nitrogen explosion. But it is fun to watch.
We’re honored to get to say, “We did it!” With a final count of 5,401 people, all armed with Windbags, the seats at Coors Field were flooded with science as we set out to set a new world record for the the Largest Physics Lesson. What a sight… a sea of Windbags with a special fly-over by Sky9, that captured the moment on film from the helicopter. The requirement for Guinness World Records was that the lesson last at least 30 minutes, but, we decided to take it to the next level and go for a full 51 minutes. There were Mentos Geysers, Rockies players with Potato Guns, a lesson on Bernoulli’s Principle, and, of course, a giant kaboom for the finale. And, at the end of the lesson an official Guinness World Records adjudicator was on hand to present our team with a certificate for the new world record. Learn more about all of the science experiments featured on Science Day at Coors Field.
Happy Birthday Ellen!
