"Science Experiments and the Voom Factor" - Teacher Articles - Learning & Leisure

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Science Experiments and the Voom Factor

by Richard Flowers

"He has something called a voom. Voom is so hard to get, You never saw anything Like it I bet." Dr. Seuss

We have read Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat Comes Back where we learned about the secret ingredient called Voom. What is Voom? Dr. Seuss had it right. Voom is what makes learning fascinating, effective, enjoyable, and relevant to kids. As a first grade teacher, I use the secret ingredient of voom to teach science. How do you teach science using voom?
Science voom recipe:

Who is Professor Tweety Bird?

Professor Tweety Bird is a character that I play in my classroom to perform science experiments and teach scientific concepts. Professor Tweety Bird is a world famous Professor Emeritus in science, sociology, medicine, philosophy, mathematics, English, etc., etc., etc., from Oxford University in England. He is an eccentric, fun-loving professor that speaks with a thick, classical English accent. He loves to introduce science to kids by using exciting experiments that make the kids say, "WOW"! The best way to teach science is with a hands-on approach, where the children can actually see the process occur in front of them.

Let me share with you a few experiments that I have done in my own classroom that you can do at home to teach some basic science concepts. Whenever we do these experiments, the professor talks about what processes the experiment is demonstrating and how these apply to other machines or processes that occur around us in our daily lives. He does it with much voom!

The vibrating fork: Take a string and tie it around a fork. Now let it hang in a loop from both of your ears and tap it with another fork. You will hear a sound in your ears that will surprise you. The sound is actually traveling thorough the string and into your ears. It sounds like a bell! This is a form of mechanical energy manifested as sound, which is vibration.
The straw through the potato: Hold a raw potato in one hand and a drinking straw with the other hand. Place your index finger on the end of the straw and pierce the straw through the potato with a quick action. The straw will pierce the entire potato and you can even pull the sliver of potato out of the straw. It will be in a perfect cylinder shape. This works by mechanical energy and air pressure. The air pressure increased since you are covering one end of the straw with you finger. This in turn reinforces the strength of the straw, allowing it to go through the potato.
Ping ping ball on a hair dryer: Take a hair drier, turn it on to high, and hold it so the air flows upward. Drop a ping-pong ball on the cushion of air. You will see it float up and down on the air cushion. This experiment demonstrates how airflow can float the ball in the air.
Penny polish: Get out your piggy bank and soak the most corroded pennies in a solution of vinegar and salt. You will find the corrosion on the pennies will vanish and the pennies will look like new. This happens because of a chemical reaction that is occurring with mixing vinegar and salt. Also, the grittiness of the salt wears down some of the corrosion. (Some soaps are gritty like "Lava" to clean the grease off your hands.)

The Professor also teaches the kids an acronym to learn the seven forms of energy that often show up in any experiment. One of these seven forms of energy often shows up in the experiments above. Science is all around us in everything we do. Remember the word McHALES.

These are just a few science experiments that you can do at home with your kids. You don't have to be Professor Tweety Bird from Oxford University either! You can invent your own character or just be yourself.

Take time to share wonderful science experiments at home with your child. But don't forget the voom. Voom is what makes it work! Use voom when you teach your children and you will create learning events that they will enjoy and always remember.

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you'll go." Dr. Seuss

Richard Flowers, A.A., B.S. M.S., C.T., is a public schoolteacher in Grants Pass.
His e-mail is: Questions@MultipleIntelligences.citymax.com
His website it at: www.MultipleIntelligences.citymax.com