Tag Archives: science

Wicked Science

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Bright, swirling smoke in shades of neon pink and electric green forms bold, energetic shapes, creating a striking abstract background with vibrant colors.

Calling all citizens of Oz and abroad! You are cordially invited to enroll in Shiz University’s elite sorcery class to learn the science behind the magic. That’s right…we’re off to see the science!

The Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Chemistry, and Science Outreach at Princeton University were delighted to present a morning of hands-on activity tables, followed by a 45-minute auditorium show with plenty of glitter and gravitas!

As Ozian’s entered the event floor, they were greeted with tables staffed by graduate and undergraduate students from Science Outreach at Princeton University (who gamely showed up dressed in pink and green!).

Kids wielded static electricity wands, learned about magnetic levitation, unveiled the Grimmerie’s invisible ink, tested Glinda’s bubble travel potion, and examined the pH levels of popular potions.

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There was also a yellow brick road magnet game table, and, just in case you missed it in the slideshow above, a truly magnificent dry ice tabletop tornado, which Katie constructed with the help of this Steve Spangler video.

After the activity tables had been thoroughly perused, Angie Miller from the Department of Chemistry invited students to attend Shiz University’s very own “Potions 101” class, which was held in the Taylor Auditorium on Princeton University campus.

Angie the Amazing lead the class through the tenets of the scientific method with emerald flames, rainbow beakers, conservation of mass, water boiling at room temperature, and more! She also defied gravity with the Meissner Effect (i.e. cooling a superconductor with liquid nitrogen to levitate a magnet). My personal favorite? Candy combustion – a dramatic demonstration of what happens when potassium chlorate meets Skittles:

Of course, it wouldn’t be magic/science without things culminating in fire and explosions, so Angie ramped things up with metal salt flames and firework balloons. Katie and I both managed to get footage of the fun:

The event was absolutely wonderful, and we would like to thank Angie Miller in the Department of Chemistry, Paryn Wallace with the Science Outreach at Princeton University, and all the graduate and undergraduate students who volunteered their time to reach out to community families! We appreciate you so much!

Science Outreach at Princeton University. Back row (from left to right): John Woo, Rishika Porandla, Anushri Mahabir, Harper Vance, Nneka Onyea, Adriana Gaitan, Zaighum Nagra, Davis Hobley. Front row (from left to right): Maya Cabrera, Kelsey Campbell, Meghana Bhupat, Anna Buretta, Adrija Kundu, Tam Nguyen

Sneak Peek: Wicked Science

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We’re off to see the Wizard on a yellow brick road that also…wait for it…defies gravity, thanks to the magic of science and magnets!

This weekend, we’re hosting Wicked Science, a thrillifying event in collaboration with Science Outreach at Princeton University and the Department of Chemistry. In addition to a 45 minutes auditorium show, the event features hands-on tables staffed by Princeton University undergraduate and graduate students. The cool golden magnet tiles you see above are part of a game called Kollide (ages 8+, retails for $15).

To play the game, you arrange a rope in a circle and divide the 20 magnets evenly amongst the players (you can have up to four players at a time). Then each player takes a turn placing a magnet in the circle. As you can guess, the more magnets in the circle, the more they get attracted to one another and start scooting, twisting, and snapping together. If that happens, you pick up the bundle of snapped magnets and your turn is over. The first player to get rid of all their magnets without any magnets clumping together wins!

It’s super fun, especially when the magnets start to threateningly wiggle and move as you try to place them, then suddenly snap together. It’s like magic!

It’s Telescope Time!

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This week, our intern Melanie Zhang takes us to the stars with a simple telescope project with custom slides! You may remember Melanie’s superb honey cakes kitchen test this summer, followed by blueberry jam for Sal, and her guest appearance in our unique story time garden. Now it’s time to explore the galaxies…take it away Melanie!

I have for you a craft that is out of this world in more ways than one! I was inspired by Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos written by Stephanie Roth Sisson (Roaring Brook Press, 2014). Star Stuff tells the story of Carl Sagan, astronomer and planetary scientist. He also once was just a young boy, looking up at the night sky, wondering about the stars. If you currently don’t have a starry night sky to look at, here’s how to make your own!

You’ll need:

  • Paper towel tube
  • Tin foil
  • Petri dish (or a clear plastic cup or plastic packaging)
  • Scissors, glue, and tape for construction
  • Stickers, construction paper, Sharpie markers, and masking tape for decorating
  • Small tissue box (optional)

First, take your paper towel tube and wrap it in a piece of tin-foil. Tape in place and fold the excess foil around the top and bottom edges of the tube. Next, decorate your telescope however you would like! I chose to wrap extra strips of folded tin-foil as well as construction paper around the top and bottom, then add stickers and label my telescope the “SKYSPOTTER 9000” with a sharpie. Now you have your telescope!

Next up is the night sky! Grab your petri dish and open it up. Using sharpies—other markers won’t color properly on the plastic—draw your space scene on the inside of both the dish and the lid. You can draw a constellation, like the big dipper, or planets, or shooting stars.

If you don’t have a petri dish, you can use the bottom of a clear plastic cup, or just about any piece of clear, flat plastic. For example, I used a plastic takeout box from lunch and cut a circle of plastic out of the lid.

It helps to draw your space scene on top of a white sheet of paper so it’s easier to see what you’re doing. Or, you can instead draw on a piece of masking tape, then cut out your drawing and paste it onto your petri dish! Just make sure that the tape you’re using is translucent and light can still shine through.

Hold your telescope up in front of one eye, then hold the petri dish up behind it, ideally in front of a light source. Take a look at what you see! Hold the petri dish closer or further away from the telescope to zoom in and out, or move it around to see all the different parts of your space scene.

Optionally, you can make your telescope a place to rest out of a tissue box! To make a telescope stand, cut a wide slot into your tissue box, wide enough for your telescope to fit in. You’ll want to cut the slot so that it extends further down on one side of the box than the other wise, so that when you set your telescope down, it is still aimed up at the sky. Keep your petri dishes inside of the box to keep them safe!

I also added a foam sticker to the underside of my telescope, near the bottom end, so that when I put it on its stand, it will stay in place. You could also tape on an extra piece of foil or a roll of paper.

And we’re done! Do you think “STARSPOTTER” or “SKYSPOTTER” has a better ring to it?