Toys

For next month’s Toy Building Workshop at the Spark!Lab, Steve and I had a long discussion about the kinds of toys we use to play with when we were kids. But aside from the regular off the shelf toys like Barbie dolls, robots, GI Joes, trucks, cooking se, legos and etc., I recall that I also had some toys that we just made from found objects.This had me thinking that back then kids had to be more creative and imaginative when they were playing. A chair is no longer just a piece of furniture you sit on but it can also be a race car, a bus, a sari-sari store or even a control chamber of a gigantic robot!

I remember that my brother and I used to lay our dining chairs side by side on the floor and pretend that it’s an autobot that transforms into a cool Transformer robot. We both loved watching Transformers- now this is way before Shia Lebouf became a star, even before he was born! On other days, the chairs will be individual robots that combine into Voltron!

Then during Christmas time, we would flatten bottle caps and string them up to make something like a tambourine for Christmas caroling around the block. I also remember some friends who made their own go carts out of scrap wood and wheels.

I browsed online to see what other home-made toys are out there. I even found a couple that not only are hand-made but also explain some science concepts. I tried to make some of them at the Spark!Lab to see how easy or difficult they might be for kids to make.

Balloon-powered car

a wind-up toy car from CDs, rubberband and a pencil

The Cartesian Diver

I remember that our Physics teacher in high school, Mr. Pascual, showed this one to us. But he used beakers, flasks and test tubes to make it so it looked really complicated and cool. He, or another classmate, would ask a volunteer student questions and if the student is telling the truth then the test tube will sink to the bottom. If it stays up, then the student is lying. There sure were a lot of embarrassed classmates then!

I showed the Cartesian Diver as part of the “Everyday Science” program at the Robinson’s Children’s Library a couple of years back. But this time I used simple materials: a two-liter soda bottle and a ball pen cap or eye dropper weighed down with a pinch of clay.  

              

A bird in a cage thaumatrope

A climbing monkey- which would later become the Climbing Sparky!

What toys did you make when you were a kid?

Internship

Snapshots from my internship at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's Spark!Lab...

Capitol Fourth

National Zoo

National Cathedral

The Washington National Cathedral took almost a century to complete. The first foundation was laid in 1907 by President Theodore Rosevelt and in 1990, the last finial was placed in the presence then President GW Bush.

There's a figure of Darth Vader on top of one of the towers, which I'll have to look for next time I visit!

Jersey Boys: Walk like a man

One of the groups that performed during the Captiol Fourth concert was the Jersey Boys. I have loved this song, Walk like a Man, ever since I heard Robert Downy, Jr. sing it in the movie Heart and Soul.

Kennedy Center

The first NMAH Intern enrichment tour I participated in. The Kennedy Center is a gem of a place!

The terrace offers a 360 degree view of DC and Virginia. The Kennedy conducts free guided tours and visitors can go up to the terrace at night. The daytime view is breath-taking enough, I could only imagine how amazing it must be at night!

Star's visit to DC

The same day Star arrived, I took her to the monuments. She thought I was exaggerating when I warned her that we will be walking for hours!

We dropped off her stuff at my place then headed off for a bit of sight-seeing. We started at the Old Post Office Tower, walked to the White House, then to the Washington Moment, and passed by the WWII Veterans Memorial. By the time we reached the Lincoln Memorial at almost 8pm, we were both so tired (and hungry!) I could have slept next to Abe if that was an option!

Carbon Dioxide Experiment

Day four of internship: Thursday, June 25

Steve asked me if I wanted to do the Carbon Dioxide experiment and I excitedly said YES! After three days of reading the manuals, observing the experiments and shadowing the facilitators, I finally felt I was ready to lead one of the experiments on my own.

"Playing" with the kids before the experiment

We conduct experiments at the Spark!Lab every hour on the hour from 11am to 3pm. I was going to do the first experiment of the day. Since it was still early into the day, there were not too many kids around, which was good because a smaller group is easier to manage. I announced that we will be conducting an experiment in five minutes and kids who want to participate should grab a seat on the lab’s bench.

I handed each kid a pair of safety glasses while explaining the importance of listening and paying attention during the experiment. Although we do not use any hazardous chemical, the safety goggles add a touch of seriousness and excitement to the experiment. I asked if anyone knows what carbon dioxide (CO2) is and some of the kids volunteered information such as it’s what we breathe out. I gave them additional background information about CO2, including the fact that it’s odorless and colorless. I asked them to inhale deeply then exhale and explained that, as one of the kids pointed out, we breathe out CO2. Then I asked: what living organism uses CO2 to make their food? Some kids replied plants and trees. So I told them the importance of trees and the relationship between humans and plants: we breathe out CO2, the plants use CO2 in photosynthesis and as a by-product release oxygen, which we need.

Their faces lit up as soon as I took out I took out a chest filled with frozen CO2 (dry ice).

Dry ice is extremely cold, with temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and as such should not be touched by our bare hands as it could cause cold burns. I asked the kids what would happen if I left the dry ice on the table and left to eat my lunch? Some of them said that it would melt and leave a puddle of water. So I explained the difference between regular ice and dry ice: ice melts then evaporates while dry ice sublimates- it turns directly into gas from solid.

They all exclaimed “wow” when I added the dry ice into a water-filled flask and it started bubbling.

I then lit a candle then asked what would happen if I put a beaker over it. We all watched the fire die as soon as the oxygen inside the beaker was consumed and converted to CO2. I took this opportunity to tell them about how one guy thought of using CO2 to put out fire thereby inventing a CO2 fire extinguisher. To prove that CO2 truly puts out fire, I asked them to each draw a cupful of vapor from the chest. They got all excited as the fire from each of their candles was put out when they poured CO2 onto it!

On to more cool stuff: Is CO2 an acid or a base?

I asked for a show of hands to find out how many think that it is, how many think that it’s not and how many just want to find out. We gave each child an Erlenmeyer flask and told them to pour 50 ml of Bromothymol Blue (BTB) into it. BTB is used as chemical indicator for weak acids and bases. It changes color when acid is added into it. Then we gave each of them drinking straws to blow bubbles into the BTB. You can just imagine how they reacted when the solution turned yellow!

Then I asked them to pour lime water into their flask and there were more excitement when it turned back to blue! One kid asked: “can we turn this back to yellow again?” Instead of telling them the answer, I asked them to blow bubbles into the solution again. And yes, there were more “whoas” when it turned yellow again.

I ended by reminding them that we should wash our hands after doing an experiment. I added liquid soap into a flask of water then dropped a few dry ice pellets into it. Kids became extremely animated when they saw what happened next! Suddenly, there were over thirty hands reaching out to touch the soap foam!

I participated in the carbon dioxide experiment during my first visit to the National Museum of American History (while I was on an Asian Cultural Council fellowship to observe education programs of museums in the US). That experience became one of the biggest factors that affected my decision to apply for an internship at the NMAH. Who knew that eight years later I will be on the other side of the bench conducting the experiment myself!