Science Made Simple

“Science Made Simple” was held at the Texas Tech Museum Saturday letting people learn about science in a fun and easy way that kids enjoy.

Amanda Brown was in charge of organizing the event this year. Brown is a graduate student studying museum sciences and is a planetarium science intern at the museum.

“I’ve been working on Science Day off and on since about April or so, just trying to find activities to do,” Brown said.

“A lot of the activities are stuff that we did last year, or the year before.”

Some experiments at the event were bouncing bubbles on a cotton glove, anatomy, biology, and physics, Brown said.  Her two favorite experiments were boo bubbles, which is a bubble solution with dry ice that makes fog, and cloud in a jar.

Assistant Professor Brian Ancell in the Department of Geosciences said he has been a part of the event twice, last spring and this fall. He said they bring the most eye-popping experiments with them to the event.

“The cans getting crushed, everyone loves that, it makes a lot of sound,” Ancell said.

Ancell said there are not many experiments that they can carry with them to the event. Tornado in a jar is an experiment that kids can do on their own, he said. “They spin a jar and see how a tornado works,” he said.

Ancell’s favorite experiment that he brought with him is a cloud in a jar.

“It’s hard to do atmospheric science experiments because you can’t really do them in a laboratory — everything happens outside,” Ancell said.

Amber Royall is a graduate student studying museum sciences. She helped out with the bouncing bubbles experiment, and said this is her first time participating in the event.

Royall said bouncing bubbles are made out of dish soap and water, and can be held using cotton gloves.

“If they touch it with their dry hand, there are oils on your hand that make the bubbles pop, but on the glove there are no oils,” Royall said.

Royall said her favorite part about the event is seeing the kids actually get it and have that “Ah ha moment.”

Amber Lee, the mother of a 4-year-old, said this is the first time they have been to the event.

Lee said her favorite parts of the event were letting kids put on gloves to hold bubbles, and beads, that were almost 99 percent water,m that they could hold.

Tony Garcia said he brought his daughters to the event because they enjoy science and doing hands-on experiments. This is the first year he and his family have attended the event, and he said they will definitely be coming to the event again next year.

“They had fun, and that’s why we bring them out so they can learn. It’s a good learning experience for the kids,” Garcia said.

Morgan Garcia, Tony’s daughter, said she liked the cloud in a jar and the water droplet experiment.

“I think it would have been really cool for the cloud in a bottle if they colored some of the water to give it a color cloud so you could see it better,” Morgan said.