April Fool’s Day—Multi-Demonstration Kit

Product Details

Celebrate April Fool’s Day with the unexpected! Four discrepant event demonstrations engage students’ natural curiosity using the element of surprise. • An open jar of water is covered by a laminated card and turned upside-down. Air pressure holds the card in place. Remove the card and the water stays in the jar! • Surely the balloon will pop when a wooden skewer is poked through it. Not so! • The liquid in the U-shaped tube is not level! Have fun as students make suggestions to explain the phenomenon and try to even things out. • Two identical balloons, inflated to different volumes, are connected. What will happen when the pathway is opened and air is allowed to flow between the balloons? The outcome is surprising…but should it be? Kit includes valuable Teacher Notes with helpful teaching tips, optional student worksheets, and enough materials to perform each demonstration seven times. Concepts: Surface tension, air pressure, cohesion, polymers, cross-linking, density, pressure of fluids, observation, minimum energy state. Time Required: One full class period Materials Provided: Blue food coloring, sodium chloride, balloons, canning jar with ring lid, laminated card, clamp, corks, sandpaper, nylon screen, wooden skewers, rubber stoppers, latex tubing, clear plastic tubing, soft glass tubing.