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For inexpensive wow factors....how about the following:

Homopolar motors... the simplest uses a battery a rare-earth magnet, a screw and a piece of wire.  Main Cost: the price of the magnet - typically from .50 - $1 depending on where you get your magnets and how strong you want it.  Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_motor for a picture of a typical one (though you can et much more complex - including having the whole battery turn and drag the wire - but this requires a very flat floor).  People are amazed when they see it work.  

Chladni plates on the cheap:  Put a balloon or rubber glove over a can.  Sprinkle small particles (we use Cremora and salt) on the membrane and apply a tuning fork to see a quick pattern appear.   

Cheap singing rods:  Singing rods are typically aluminum rods and can be bought in sets.  However you can take copper pipe from home depot or lowes and some violin rosin, and strum the copper pipe with your fingers covered in violin rosin and it works like the aluminum rods (not quite as sustained though - and takes some practice).

Center of gravity activities - such as using a fork and a spoon meshed together with a match-stick in between the tines of the fork that is then balanced on a glass.  (The large version of this uses a Shovel, a pitch-fork and a deck spindle (or 2" x 2"). 

Or the aluminum cans that implode (put them on a hot plate and dump them over into a tray of water).

Or sticking a needle covered in oil (or vaseline) through a balloon.

Hmmm...before I go any further why not check out www.howtosmile.org (though I haven't looked to see if any of the above demos are on the site).

-William

William Katzman
Program Leader
LIGO Science Education Center
"Inspiring Science"
[log in to unmask]
(225) 686-3134

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