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I agree that it can be great to build up to a climax of excitement at the
end of a children's science show.

Here are some of the factors which I have found to 'connect' with science
show audiences:

1. Maximum audience participation
2. Tense anticipation
3. Humour
4. Reproducability at home
5. Familiar materials and context

Suggestion: obtain ten plastic 35mm film canisters with lids that really
snap on with a loud click. Half fill each canister with water. Set out ten
Alka Seltzer tablets (or half-tablets: Alka Seltzer is ridiculously
expensive!). Tell the audience you need ten especially brave, tough and
fearless volunteers because the next experiment involves explosions. (Eager
hands go up everywhere.)

Re-emphasise the need for special bravery, then pick ten of the very
youngest, smallest boys and girls (laughter from the audience).

Form them in a line facing the audience, each holding a film canister. Pour
vinegar onto some sodium bicarbonate in a wine glass. Briefly explain about
the citric acid and sodium bicarbonate powders in the dry tablets, CO2,
pressure etc.

Show them how to hold the canisters so the lids will not hit them in the
face. Suggest that they aim them instead towards the audience at a
45-degrees angle. (Noisy chaos and laughter erupts in the front few rows.)
Then move along the line of children, inserting the tablets and snapping on
the lids. (There's usually some screaming as the staccato rattle of loud
pops begins.) By this stage any teachers in the audience will be thinking
that some kind of riot has started. A perfect time to end the show...

I've also discovered that applause and cheering combined with ringing
fire-alarm bells are another really great way to end a science show, but
that's another story...

[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell

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