Enigma Day 2012

Enigma Day is a day in which we invite the parents to come and view their child's Enigma Research project. Students research and make a Google Presentation on the Enigma of their choice: Nazca Lines, Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness Monster, Stonehenge, Atlantis, and the Marfa Lights. This year, our featured experiments in the lab were:

Make Your Own Slime
 This is a Steve Spangler mixture. We order the Slime Goo and the Cross Linking Solution and the Cups. Scientists can take home their slime in the sealed cup.

Secret Messages:
Scientists wrote secret messages with a special Ammonia
Water solution. We also used a GoldenRod paper and talked
about the chemistry behind this experiment.





The Crystal Bubble is a favorite. We add dry ice to a large bucket of water. The dry ice creates a gas and the scientists make a giant ring around the top of the bucket to form a bubble film. Instant large bubble!

Boo Bubbles are probably the most favorite, or did I already say that?? Boo bubbles work a lot like the Crystal Bubble except the scientists get to hold them. A soapy solution goes inside a large jar with a tube. Add dry ice and you have a boo bubble.

Screaming Balloons consist of a hex nut and a balloon. Students compare the sound of a hex nut inside the balloon to the sound of a penny.  Sound Tubes make different pitches of sound as you twirl them.

Grow Your Own Body Parts

You have all seen these in one form or another. Growing alligators, growing fish, ..endless examples of hydrophillic and hydrophobic polymers. These are especially nice in that we have a hand, nose, brain and ear! Great science behind this activity in that the hydrophillic ingredient in the growing body parts "loves" water and this helps the body part to GROW! The hydrophobic ingredient "doesn't like" water and this helps the body part keep its shape.