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If you can get a video camera that projects your demos onto a screen it can solve your problem of everyone being able to see what you're doing.
This is what comes to mind in the quick 5 minutes of going through emails...
Air pressure - 1) Suspend a brightly colored beach ball in the air stream of a leaf blower. Makes it easy to see. If you have a long power cord, you can walk into the audience. 2) Put a person into a large plastic garbage back, use a hose/vacuum to remove the air and "shrink-wrap" them into it. 3) A little liquid N2 poured into a small plastic container, screw-on the cap, toss it into a strong metal bin filled w/ water. The nitrogen changes into a gas, pressure increases and the bottle will explode. Move way and make sure that you're not near the audience. Small bottles (shampoo bottles from hotels) work well. The bigger the bottle (soda bottles), the bigger the explosion and the danger. Wear gloves, goggles and ear muffs.
COM - Involve the audience... 1) Lower their COM and widen their base of support to show greater stability. Stand tall, feet together, sway back and forth or be pushed and it's easy to fall. Widen their feet and it's more stable. Lower their body a little by bending at the knees and it's even more stable. Even more if they drop into a three-point stance like football. Finally, lie (lay?) flat on the ground where the BOS is widest and COM is lowest and it's very stable. Might want the people in the center of your crowd do this. 2) Stand with their left leg against the wall, left side of their left foot touching the wall and left shoulder touching the wall. It's impossible to lift and hold up your right leg. Without the wall, you can see your body shift over your left foot when you move from both feet to standing on a single left foot. The science concept is that COM must stay over the BOS. Stand with your back touching the wall and the back of both heels touching the wall. Without bending your knees, bend forward at the waist and touch your toes without falling over. Can't be done. When you're not against the wall, you can see your butt move backwards when you bend forward to keep the COM over the BOS. If the wall is in the way, your butt can't move backwards. Finally, stand with your toes of both feet touching the wall and your nose touching the wall. If you try to stand on your tiptoes, it can't be done. Move away from the wall and show that when you rise up on your tiptoes, your upper body moves forward to keep COM over the BOS. If the wall is present, your body can't move forward. Relate this to walking; it's basically controlled falling since your COM is in front of your BOS. Your feet, the BOS, are trying to quickly get under the COM so you don't fall on your face. Do these last 3 activities w/ the part of the audience near a wall.
Martin S. Fisher
Director of Education
Nauticus, the National Maritime Center
One Waterside Drive
Norfolk, VA 23510
36°50'51"N 76°17'53"W 13 ft.
phone: (757) 664-1003, (800) 664-1080 ext. 41003
fax: (757) 623-1287 cell (757) 617-7080
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> www.nauticus.org <http://www.nauticus.org>
-----Original Message-----
From: Waymon Stewart [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 9:26 AM
Subject: Large Assembly Programs
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Hello Folks:
Has anyone conducted large assembly programs for an audience
between 250-300 students on air pressure, motion, simple
machines, and balancing (center of mass, etc)? If so, what kind
of equipment and materials do you use? We are currently
conducting classroom size programs on the above mentioned topics
but would like to expand those areas to a larger audience.
Thanks for your assistance.
Waymon Stewart
Science Demonstrations Program Manager
National Science Center
One 7th St.
Augusta, GA 30901
706-821-0219
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