Students to mark science day by blowing up balloons to break a world record

Jason Lindsey, outreach science educator for the Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden, Mo., will gather more than a thousand science enthusiasts today in an effort to break a world record by ... blowing up balloons.

The event marks Science Day, a day proclaimed by governors in Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee in an effort to raise the profile of science.

Children and adults will have to blow up more than 600 balloons in an hour to break a Guinness World Record. Lindsey designed the experiment to show that although air is transparent, it takes up space.

"Our No. 1 goal is to spark an interest in science as early as possible and to show parents they don't have to be a rocket scientist or physicist to get their child interested in science," Lindsey said. He said the record could be broken "very quickly" if the crowd he anticipates arrives. He's invited schools from south of St. Louis down to the Bootheel and across to Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Eighteen organizations will offer science-related information or hold mini-experiments before the record-breaking attempt. The St. Louis Science Center, Bollinger County Museum of Natural History and the NASA Educator Resource Center are among those who will have booths.

"Can one day make a difference? I think so. It's starting early showing kids that science is fun. If you get them hooked early, it can change the way they see science growing up," Lindsey said.

Last year, Cape Girardeau set a world record on Science Day for the most Mentos fountains to be launched at once, 973. When the mint is added to soda, a reaction causes a geyser of up to 30 feet. Two years ago, students marked the day by performing experiments in school.

Jackson Junior High started a Science Day before it became widespread. Because classes are canceled today for parent-teacher conferences, the school held its Science Day on Wednesday.

Eighth- and ninth-graders rotated through three stations, performing a hands-on activity at each.

"In the classroom you do notes and worksheets. It's fun to be outside," said ninth-grader Taylor Dickerson. As she mixed vinegar with baking soda, she explained, "We're trying to get a chemical reaction by trapping the gas."

At one station, students studied the cohesive property of water by seeing how many drops of water they could fit on a penny. At another, they removed chlorophyll from leaves to understand why leaves change color. They heard about dinosaur fossils discovered in Bollinger County in a different room.

Outside, teacher Amy Skaggs had students pump air into an upside-down two-liter soda bottle partially filled with water. Students counted each pump in a chant, seeing how many it would take until an eruption. Students repeated the experiment with different amount of water for comparison. At a final station, they launched rockets.

"We do as many hands-on experiments as possible. We truly believe science is important in our lives -- we use it all the time," said teacher Leanne Thele.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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