Children, adults at Science Day set world record with balloons

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Youngsters blow up balloons Friday in a world-record attempt on Science Day at West Park Mall. [Click to enlarge]

Another Science Day and another world record came and went Friday as science enthusiasts blew up more than 800 balloons within an hour to commemorate the day set aside by governors in Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee to raise interest in science.

The past Guinness World Record for such a feat was 600 balloons, said Jason Lindsey, outreach science educator for the Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden, Mo. But from 5 to 6 p.m. at West Park Mall, children and adults managed to inflate 852 balloons.

The record is unofficial until verified by the Guinness organization.

Lindsey designed the experiment to show that although air is transparent, it takes up space.

Schools from south of St. Louis down to the Bootheel and west to Poplar Bluff, Mo. were invited to attend Science Day. About 110 students from Portageville, Mo., and at least 40 from Cairo, Ill., attended.

"It keeps getting better every year," Lindsey said.

At last year's Science Day, Cape Girardeau set a world record for the most Mentos fountains to be launched at once, 973. When the candy is added to soda, a reaction causes a geyser of up to 30 feet.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Jason Lindsey demonstrates a trash can smoke ring cannon Friday with helpers, from left, Mason Warren, Ty Warren, Jacob Suderman and Parker McCormick on Science Day at West Park Mall. [Click to enlarge]

Michael Alden, 15, of Cape Girardeau said he attended Science Day last year with his family and still has his "Mentos kit" at home.

Throughout the mall Friday, 18 organizations offered science-related information or allowed children to try mini-experiments before the record-breaking attempt at 5 p.m.

"Some of the kids were just shopping and wanted to come over and try it," said Angie Nations of the geology exhibit she and her husband organized for the St. Louis-based Doe Run Mining Co.

Each child was supplied with a list of all of the minerals on the table and, based on the written descriptions of each, had to identify them in a test.

"We didn't tell them what the minerals were," Nations said.

The purpose of the exhibit was to help children realize how many uses various minerals have and to recognize the work behind the process of turning them into consumer products like those they see in stores, Nations said.

At a table sponsored by Montgomery Bank, co-host of the event, participants could learn to inflate a balloon relying on the chemical reaction from mixing vinegar and baking soda.

"I thought it was going to explode," said Justin Cowan, 7, of Cape Girardeau, after leaping away from his balloon as the gas filled it.

Parent educator Gina Payne said events like those offered at Science Day allow children to see a lighter side of science.

"It's important because science has always been perceived as dry and not fun," Payne said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245

Were you there?

Have a comment?

Log on to semissourian.com/today