No pressure, or anything...

[ms.peachy]

So, next week, I'm presenting a workshop at a conference, and I got an email from the coordinator just a bit ago sayingJust want to let you know that your sessions are fully booked! Have started a wating list - any chance we can increase capacity? Looks like it is the can't-miss event of the conference, we're all looking forward to what you've got in store for us!
I mean, it's not like I ever thought I was going do a crap job or anything but jeez!

I just keep thinking of that scene in Airplane where Leslie Nielsen sticks his head in the cockpit and says "I just wanted to say, good luck, we're all counting on you........Good luck, we're all counting on you."

[ms.peachy]

Awesome for you Peachy!

What will you be presenting?

It's called "Science for a Fiver (or Less)". Hands-on science experiment stuff using ordinary things that you can find around the house or get at the supermarket or whatever. It's for the people who mentor in youth programs, home educators, that kinda thing.

[synch]

Home made explosives!

Gotta love 'em.

Crap, I think I triggered all sorts of government agencies with that remark :(

[enree erzweglle]

Good luck!

Don't eat the fish.

[Parkey]

It's called "Science for a Fiver (or Less)". Hands-on science experiment stuff using ordinary things that you can find around the house or get at the supermarket or whatever. It's for the people who mentor in youth programs, home educators, that kinda thing.

Alka Seltzers in 35mm film cannisters!

[ms.peachy]

Alka Seltzers in 35mm film cannisters!
You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get enough of those for a class, now that everyone's gone digital.

But yeah, that's a good one!

We're going to have a spaghetti skyscraper competition, and make underwater fireworks, and ice cream in a bag, and build a tetrahedron kite.

[Parkey]

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get enough of those for a class, now that everyone's gone digital.

But yeah, that's a good one!

We're going to have a spaghetti skyscraper competition, and make underwater fireworks, and ice cream in a bag, and build a tetrahedron kite.
That all sounds brilliant!

You should write into The Guardian, there's been an ongoing debate on what to use 35mm cases for in their letter page for months.

[Beth]

my kids love the ice cream in a bag. could you tell me how to do the underwater fireworks sometime?

[ms.peachy]

my kids love the ice cream in a bag. could you tell me how to do the underwater fireworks sometime?
It's easy, but potetially messy.

You take a large glass (pint glasses work really well for this) and fill it 3/4 full with water. If the water in your area tends to be quite minerally, use distilled or pure bottled if you can. Add some vegetable oil, until you have a layer about 1.5 to 2 cm thick floating on top. (That's the first science bit: immiscibility.)

Have 2 or 3 different colours of food colouring on hand. Best if you can get the kind that come in little squeeze bottles - if you can't get that kind, you'll need an eyedropper or pipette. Add a few drops of each colour, sort of scattering them around the surface of the oil. They will sink down through the layer of oil and then hit the water, and make trails of colour down into the water as they go. (That's the second sciencey bit: density.)

If you want to take it further and have a third sciencey bit (temperature), you can try it using two glasses - the instructions are the same, except in one glass use warmer water andin the other cold, and see what effect that has on how rapidly the colour disperses once it hits the water.

That'll be £5, please.