So, how did I do this? First, I reviewed Bernoulli's principles with some toilet paper. Yes. I sometimes take toilet paper to school for the purpose of science. I introduced Harry the Hairdryer and informed the children that "Harry" was on a fieldtrip. After all, if you had to deal with hair like mine, you would need a field trip too! Next, I used a round curtain rod and slipped a full roll of toilet paper onto it. I turned on the hairdryer and nothing happened... Big deal. We are giving the toilet paper a little extra fluff. OK. So I asked the children if Bernoulli was correct, what was the problem?
These kids are so smart. They instantly that the full roll of toilet paper weighed too much. I asked my assistant to look inside my bag... Ahhhh.. there is a partially used roll of toilet paper. We slid it onto the curtain rod and turned on the hairdryer. Away went the toilet paper. Wheeeeeeeee! I love the fun experiments. So of course then I asked my assistant to roll the toilet paper back onto the tube so that I could use it later... Ewweeee...Okay, then I told him he could just throw it in the trash.
Next, to demonstrate control of air pressure. I had already glued 2" sections of irrigation tube to CD's. I passed them out and gave each child a balloon. I drew a fantastic representation of a hovercraft on the white board. I even drew the windows and an outline of myself looking out of the window waiting to go on my trip. I explained that I would like to get from England to France. I have engines that blow massive amounts of air. Which way should I point the air to be able to travel?
One child raised their hand and said, "UP!"... Ummmm... I drew a little tear on my face. If the air is going up then I am going.... "DOWN" they shouted.
Yes... So they followed along nicely. We blew up the balloons and the hovercraft WORKED! YES! Success!!
More importantly, I think they understand a little more about the force of air.
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