momstown Little Scientists: Whiz Bang Show with Glenn Kachmar

momstown Victoria moms, kids, toddlers and babies enjoyed a special Whiz Bang Show with Glenn Kachmar at Saanich Neighbourhood Place!

For his first demonstration, Glenn made "Elephant's Toothpaste," a chemical reaction that causes lots and lots of green foam to ooze out of a bottle - but you wouldn't want to brush your teeth with it! The foam bubbles are harmless and filled with oxygen, however, the kids also observed steam - the reaction produces heat and the foam and glass cylinder are hot. 

"There is a safe version of this experiment, but we won't be doing that today!"  

But you can try this safe, kid-friendly version which kids can put their hands into, found on Glenn's website!

Elephant's Toothpaste (kid-friendly)

Materials: a cup, yeast, warm water, a flask or bottle, 3% hydrogen peroxide, food colour and dish soap 

1. Put 125 mL of warm water in a cup and add yeast. Set aside for ten minutes or until it has risen.

2. Pour about 100 mL of hydrogen peroxide into the flask or bottle. Add some food colour and dish soap. Swirl it around to mix it.

3. Add the yeast mix to the coloured, soapy hydrogen peroxide and watch the oxygen come out of the peroxide and form bubbles.

The science: The yeast acts as a catalyst and helps the oxygen to come out of the peroxide. The soap helps make bubbles and so you have oxygen-filled soap bubbles for the foam.

Next, Glenn performed a "magic" trick. He took out three cups, poured water into one of the cups and shuffled them around. Then he asked us to guess which one held the water. We thought we knew the answer but - he turned the cup over, and it was empty! Then he showed us that the other two cups were empty as well. Where did the water go? The answer is not "magic," of course, but see the pictures below to guess the science! ;)

We often think eggs are fragile, when in fact the shape of an egg (dome on the bottom and on the top) makes it very strong. When pressure is applied to both ends, the pressure is distributed evenly over the whole shell, which makes it hard to break. Glenn showed us the incredible strength of the humble egg, by placing a board on top of 8 eggs and giving each kid a turn to stand on it. The eggs did not break!

We weren't sure what to expect next as Glenn placed 4 eggs on top of cylinders, on top of a tray, on top of 4 glasses of water. Then he proceeded to take a broom, stand on the fronds and.......WHAP! The handle hit the tray and cylinders, and all 4 eggs landed in the cups! Amazing!

Watch closely!

Glenn did even more great science demos with us, including showing that our kids could stand on balloons without popping them, firing smoke rings at us, getting me to breathe real fire and creating a dramatic soda fountain!

Thank you so much, Glenn Kachmar, for all of the amazing Little Scientist programs you gave us, and for helping to raise donations for Saanich Neighbourhood Place. Good luck in all your adventures - you are truly something incredible!!! 

Glenn is a wonderful teacher and our momstown kids and toddlers loved him. He is currently writing a book about science with kids and on leave from teaching, and he is available to do science shows and workshops at schools, preschools, daycares, home learners, birthday parties and much more! Here is a look back at everything we've done together.

How to Make Magic Mud & Silly Putty

Bubble Show

Fun with Colours

Water Experiments 

Dry Ice Show

Flight with Aaron Bannister

Biology Fun

Locomotion

Thanks for all the fun! We'll miss you, Glenn!

Little Scientists will continue at Saanich Neighbourhood Place on July 25th and August 22nd, 3:30-4:30 p.m.! We will be doing more experiments from the TRY THIS page on Glenn's website, www.somethingincredible.ca. Please bring a $2 donaton for Saanich Neighbourhood Place! An annual momstown membership is only $45/year, which includes a BONUS 1-year subscription to Today's Parent Magazine! Email info.victoria@momstown.ca to learn more or sign up today!

momstown Little Scientists with Glenn Kachmar: Locomotion

momstown Victoria moms and kids had another incredible time inspiring curiosity in our kids and toddlers at Little Scientists with Glenn Kachmar! This time our topic was "locomotion," which was all about moving things from one place to another.

We started with this neat contraption! The kids took turns putting a ball at the top and watching it roll down the twisty rails, reminiscent of the old 1-2-3 rolling ball on Sesame Street. 

Then, Glenn brought out something that actually levitates. The moms and kids passed their fingers under the floating globe, and Glenn asked us to guess how it works. The kids guessed "magic" (so much for our science efforts!) But the moms guessed magnetism, and indeed both the shape of the globe and electric magnetism are what causes the globe to levitate. 

Next, we played with tops set in motion by winding a string around the axis and then pulling it quickly. Ever wonder why a spinning top doesn't fall over? It's because of inertia and something called the "gyroscopic effect."

This is a Baby...

...and this is the "Baby Chaser!" The kids had fun playing with this remote controlled device on wheels.

Kids and toddlers also played with wind-up toys that scooted on tables or swam in water...

...and pop-up rubber toys that, when pushed inside out and placed on the table, pop high into the air as they resume their shape. 

The kids also took turns being spun around on a rotating disk. They learned that they could affect how fast they could spin by pulling their arms in or spreading them out. This has to do again with inertia and rotational dynamics -pulling your arms into the rotational axis makes you spin faster- but the kids simply knew it as a fun ride.

Finally, to the great delight of our Victoria moms and kids, Glenn showed us a unique way of moving air - by taking aim and firing it! He used an air cannon to blast puffs of air at us across the room. Can you guess what shape the air takes as it leaves the air cannon? Using a smoke machine to fill the air cannon, we could see that they were...

....smoke rings! 

Thank you Glenn Kachmar for providing these amazing and interactive science programs with our moms, babies, toddlers and kids, and also for raising donations at every program for Saanich Neighbourhood Place. Your students and school are going to be very lucky to have you back! Please check out Glenn's website, www.somethingincredible.ca, for information on his shows, workshops, and more great science experiments with young kids!

Our next Little Scientists program will be a Whiz Bang Science show and farewell to Glenn on Thursday, June 27th, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Everyone welcome! Please bring a $2 donation for Saanich Neighbourhood Place.

momstown Little Scientists Take Flight with Aaron Bannister

Victoria moms, toddlers and kids explored the topic of flight with our guest science instructor, Aaron Bannister, at our momstown Victoria Little Scientists program in March! 

The kids lined up to take turns using a water bottle rocket launcher! Aaron added some water to a 2-litre plastic bottle and attached it to the rocket launcher. Then he used an air pump to fill the bottle with air, pressurizing both the air and water inside the plastic bottle.  

After about six pumps, he hit the release button...Whoosh! The bottle flew about 20 feet with a splashing trail of water! Why did we add water to the bottle rocket? According to NASA's website, since water is about 100 times heavier than air, the expelled water produces more thrust than air alone.

All the kids took turns using the water bottle rocket launcher, as well as other fun toys that launched objects into flight!

  

Aaron also showed us how to "magically" float ping pong balls in the air using a hairdryer. This is called Bernoulli's Principle. As long as the hairdryer is pointing straight up, the ping pong balls will hover in the air stream without falling to the side. This is because the fast moving air creates lower air pressure pushing on the surface of the ball. The higher air pressure from the still air surrounding the air stream is what keeps the ball in place. You can read more about this principle here! 

 

Thank you to Aaron Bannister for joining us and sharing your love of science with our kids! Our Little Scientists is a monthly drop-in program by donation at Saanich Neighbourhood Place for moms with kids ages 0 to 6. 

momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events and programs every month to connect and support moms in Greater Victoria, and our membership is only $45 per family per year! Register for your FREE 4-week trial and see what else momstown moms and kids are up to! Or contact info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!

momstown Victoria Little Scientists: Biology Fun with Glenn Kachmar at Saanich Neighbourhood Place

Victoria moms, toddlers and kids enjoyed fun Biology activities and games at our momstown Victoria Little Scientists with Glenn Kachmar! Little Scientists is a monthly drop-in by donation with 100% of the proceeds going to Saanich Neighbourhood Place.

Glenn brought a variety of plants for the kids and moms to observe under a large magnifying glass, including flowers, seeds and plant bulbs. The children also took turns peering into a microscope at an insect wing, onion skin, and many other specimens. 

The kids also played fun games to learn about different animals. Glenn would choose an animal from one of his books, and the children would ask questions until they could guess what it was. They stumped him a few times with questions like, "What does it eat?" and "Can it swim?" The answer wasn't always self-evident!

 

What better way to learn about how animals move than to slither like a snake, jump like a monkey, and waddle like a penguin? The kids did a great job of pretending to be different animals, and the parents did a great job of thinking up some fun animals to be!

The weather was gorgeous and the kids kept drifting outside to the playground, so Glenn brought the biology lesson outside. Together they observed the plants and the garden beds, and then they started to look for bugs. Some of the best moments were when the kids took turns holding a common woodlouse, which is not an insect but a 14-legged crustacean. A woodlouse can roll itself into a sphere to protect itself and is also known as a pill-bug or roly-poly.

Thank you again to Glenn Kachmar for inspiring our kids' curiosity and making science so much fun, and thank you to Saanich Neighbourhood Place for partnering with us to offer this awesome event. Glenn will only be joining our Little Scientists for two more programs on May 23rd and June 27th, and then he will take a break for the summer and return to teaching full-time in September. If you are thinking of booking Glenn for a science show, birthday party or homeschooling event, now is the time! Please visit his website, www.somethingincredible.ca, for amazing videos and great experiments that you can try at home with your kids!

momstown Victoria coordinates over 20 events each month to connect and support moms in Greater Victoria, and our membership is only $45 per family per year! Register for your FREE 4-week trial membership and see what else momstown moms and kids are up to! Contact info.victoria@momstown.ca for more info!