OMG, Arts on Stage!

We recently went with our homeschool co-op to see the Arts on Stage show at Goucher College in Towson, MD. As with most things we do, I enjoyed it more than the kids, and went breathless with laughter telling my husband about the silly tricks and jokes the performers made and did on stage.

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Our show "Scientific Circus" was of course about science fun and me being a science geek, it was right up my alley. Things we learned about that I never knew before:

• Whips make sonic booms. OMG, I was utterly fascinated by this fun fact. I thought only jet engines and lightning (making thunder) could accomplish this but boy was I wrong. They demonstrated the power of the tip of the whip as it traveled faster than air by using the whip to slice and shred through paper with amazing precision over and over again.
• You can make a boomerang from a pizza box top and surprisingly, boomerangs DID NOT originate in Australia. How to do it: Trace the pattern of a cross into the box top, then cut it out. Holding it parallel to the ground, you curve the tips slightly toward the ground. You have to hold it straight up and down to toss it and you stand still and wait for it to come back. The science of boomerangs have always fascinated me and this one I loved. 
• They taught us how to balance any item using the concept of locating its center of gravity. Taller items (yard sticks) are easier to balance say, on the tip of your finger, than short ones (pencils) and you must look at the base of the item to keep it balanced, not the top, since the top falls first and fast.
• We covered air pressure, surface tension in bubbles and light's speed and spectrum.
• They wrapped up with Bubble Fun and I think it was everyone's favorite. The whole, huge auditorium was absolutely mesmerized and frankly, it was kinda relaxing for the adults. I learned to blow bubbles using only my hand or a straw as a wand. And I now know how to blow bubbles inside of a bigger bubble using a straw because apparently a straw won't pop a bubble if you poke it with one- I know, Wow!

If you go to their website http://www.superscientificcircus.com/, there's lots of useful info to reinforce or learn about what they teach in their shows. Since I'm a sucker for a good live performance, especially an educational one, we will definitely go back again!

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