Jumpstart for Kindergarteners

Last Saturday, I went with about 5 of my fellow SPICE members to go do a demo show for some kindergarteners at Brittingham Park here in Madison. For any of you who weren't paying attention, Saturday was not ideal weather for doing things outside; it was cold and really windy. As a result, we had to scramble at the last minute to figure out what we could possibly do outside when its windy. We really can't do anything with balloons or explosions since everything would fly away.
To top it all off, we even had trouble finding out where to go. Brittingham Park extends for quite a ways around the lake, and there are two pavilion-like buildings at each end, so we spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to go. When we finally did figure it out, there were only six kids there. Apparently most of the parents decided to keep their kids at home that day due to the weather (a very good choice in my opinion).
Overall, however, it still turned out pretty well. We did all the demos we could, and it took a lot less time than we had expected, but the kids seemed to enjoy it. They really liked the stuff we did with liquid nitrogen the most - it looks kind of scary when the "smoke" starts coming towards you. This was also a good day to train a few of the newbies to the group. They all did a good job, but they did tend to give explanations of the demos that were way over the kids' heads. Nobody was maimed or killed, so it was still a good day.

Picnic

OK, so science isn't infallible. We (SPICE) recently did a demo show at the Engineering Centers building recently, where, instead of the normal audience of elementary and middle school students, we did a show for high schoolers. When you're used to doing a show for young kids, it seems really stupid for older ones.

To try to counter this, we tried our fanciest and most complicated demos, along with the detailed explanations for how everything works to try to get at least some people's attention. As luck would have it, nothing worked as planned. Some of our best demos simply wouldn't work and when you're trying to do a show in front of a huge group of people, you can't help but feel like a huge idiot.

All problems aside, we finally had our club's spring picnic at Vilas Park today. It was a great way to relax and wear off some tension a little bit (and get some sunburn too) before these last few weeks where we'll have nothing to do but projects and studying for exams.

More Hell

Following the same pattern as last time, I figured I'd find some more humorous things about science. Mainly, I'm just really stressed about exams and projects, and I need some way to keep myself from going [more] insane.

I thought the answer the student gave in the hell story was really creative, so I wanted to find more of the same kind of thing. Here's a few answers to some science questions that I've been able to find online:

Some 11 year old's answers on science tests:

"The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader."

"Artifical insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."

"Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire."

"The body consists of three parts- the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects."

"Germinate: To become a naturalized German."

http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~amyb/science_humor.html#point1

More examples of funny test answers:

http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Funny_Student_Exam_Answers_91_2007.php

I just wish I had the guts to do this kind of stuff myself.

Hell

Science can explain how a lot of things work in the world, but can it be used to tell whether hell is endothermic or exothermic?

OK, so this isn't really about my lab or SPICE, but it's related to science, so I figure that's close enough. I heard this one a long time ago, and it's one of my favorite stories that, as far as I know, is true.

Enjoy:

Dr. Schlambaugh, a senior lecturer at the Chemical Engineering Department,University of Oklahoma, is known for posing questions on final exams like: "Why do airplanes fly?"
In May a few years ago, the "Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer " exam paper contained the question:
"Is Hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof."
Most students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or similar. One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we must postulate that if souls exist, they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls also must have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it does not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for souls entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some religions say that if youare not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions, and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and all souls go toHell. With the birth and death rates what they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change in the volume of Hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of the souls and volume needs to stay constant.
[Answer 1] So, if Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature in Hell willincrease until all Hell breaks loose.
[Answer 2] Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase in souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressurewill drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it? If we accept the postulate (given to me by Teresa Banyan during freshman year) that "it'll be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and taking into account that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then [Answer 2] cannot be correct; ...... thus, Hell is exothermic.
The student got the only A.

http://www.basicjokes.com/djoke.php?id=5410