One our most popular lessons is our lesson about volcanoes. It is not because people are super interested in sedimentary rocks and liquid hot magma. It is because we blow up a trash can at the end. To be correct, we fill a soda bottle with liquid nitrogen and submerge it in a can full of water. When the bottle ruptures, water and tennis balls fly into the air simulating a volcanic eruption. On this day, we had some extra liquid nitrogen so we poured it in a puddle so the kids could see it boiling and steaming.
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| Watching LN2 boil on the ground. |
I like the exercise because they are a captive audience and the experience brings out a lot of questions. "Why is it bubbling?" "What would happen if....?" "Why doesn't the water freeze?" All of these questions show that you have opened up the learning and curiosity channel of their brains which is difficult to do. I would like to know more about what triggers this openness so I don't have to blow up a trash can every time I need their attention.
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