HUMAN CENTER OF GRAVITY - A line has been drawn down the center of a mirror. Clara is to her keep nose on the line while moving a leg to one side. When she does, her nose moves off the line on the mirror. When she raises her arm opposite the foot, her nose stays on line. She is controlling her center of gravity, an imaginary point at which gravity seems to be concentrated. GROWING VEGETABLES PART 1 - Shan sees examples of plants that can be grown from food purchased at the super market: watermelon, bird seed, cherries, garlic, and carrots. Mr. Wizard gives her a copy of Mr. Wizard’s Experiments for Young Scientists which has a chapter titled Grocery Farm, in which are suggestions for growing plants from food. He also gives her the plants to start with. She promises to bring them back when they’re growing. SALT SHAKER BALANCE TRICK - Vanessa has been shown how to balance a salt shaker on its edge. She sprinkles salt on a table that has a smooth surface and moves the shaker around on top of the salt until she gets a few grains under the beveled edge, Then, with a soda straw, she blows away the excess salt so that it appears that the shaker is balanced unaided. Great trick! INVESTIGATING ARSON – Mr.Wizard narrates: Most fires start by accident, but some are deliberately set which is a crime called arson. How do investigators know if arson was involved? An important clue can come from debris found at the scene of the fire. Samples are collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis. See the fascinating results. GROWING VEGETABLES PART 2 - Shan has returned with plants she has grown from food. She used a number systems to keep track of the seeds. Her favorite is garlic. She also grew tomato seeds from tomatoes, bird seed which she can’t identify except that it looks like grass. THERMOSTAT - Damon recognizes a thermostat that turns the furnace on and off. To show him how it works, Mr. Wizard has set up two lengths of wires with weights. When he sends electricity through the wires, one sags more showing that it has expanded more than the other. See the whole demonstration. MICROSCOPIC SPIROGYRA – Mr. Wizard shows Erin another superstar of the microscopic world: the spirogyra, a plant inside of which are plant parts that spiral from one end of a cell to the other. EAGLES and POWER LINES – Mr.Wizard narrates: Unfortunately it was becoming a familiar scene. A dead golden eagle found beneath a power pole. The bird had attempted to use the power pole as a perch and had been electrocuted. Idaho Power Company and other utilities joined together to find a solution. They went to Moreland Nelson, one of the world’s leading experts on birds of prey. They found a young bird in a nest atop a transmission power. Watch this fascinating process! MOIRE PATTERNS - Sarah’s mother has a dress of material. The cloth has a pattern that moves as her mother walks. The cloth is called watered silk. They examine two combs placed together to see that similar patterns are produced as one comb is moved. When the light going through the combs it is blocked by the teeth, interference patterns are produced. They look at the patterns projected on the wall with an overhead projector. Mr. Wizard explains the patterns are called moire, which is the French word for watered, because the effect was first achieved using water to imprint the design on cloth.