Mr. Wizard's World

SOLAR COOKERS: Christian is going to use the heat of the sun to cook food for breakfast. KITCHEN HELIX: You're looking up inside a kitchen helix, a spiral‑like, curved line that forms circles of increasing size around a center. What is this?? SIPHONS: Mr. Wizard demonstrates to Laurie how a siphon works. TORNADOS: The destruction can be staggering. Houses, even block after block, can be completely leveled by some of the strongest winds that can occur on earth — the violent winds in a tornado. Weather conditions are discussed and what is not known. COMPUTER METRIC MADNESS: Stacey pushes a key on the computer to start a game called Matrix Madness. She must decide what goes into an empty square by comparing the contents of adjoining squares. She compares it to puzzles in children’s books and mathematics puzzles. PENDULUM COUPLED: Two pendulums are suspended from the frame of a swing in the park. Each is a brick tied onto a rope. Michael starts them swinging and they stay in step. IS A TOMATO A FRUIT OR A VEGETABLE?: A discussion takes place from a botanist approach to this question. CABBAGE INDICATOR: Mr. Wizard pours the juice from a jar of red cabbage into a glass beaker. He and Michael discuss acids and bases. Michael identifies the liquids in the test tubes.

TALKING HEAD ILLUSIONS: Jackie walks into the room and is greeted by Christian whose head appears to be on a platter on a table. Mr. Wizard explains the trick by pushing a rope with one knot into a drinking glass. MOSQUITO ON SKIN: Do mosquitoes prefer to bite some people over others? WATER INTO UPSIDE DOWN GLASS: Darren fills a kitchen syringe with water from an aquarium. The syringe has a bent tube at the end. Mr. Wizard challenges him to use it to fill an inverted drinking glass that has some water in it. OSCILLOSCOPE - RADIO WAVES: Mr. Wizard shows Leila an oscilloscope. She defines oscillate: to move back and forth and scope: to see. They are going to use the oscilloscope to find out how radio works. She knows only that she moves a dial to tune into a station. Mr. Wizard explains. CUBES - OPEN UP QUIZ: Mr. Wizard shows Laurie several forms that she has to determine if they will fold up into cubes. COOKIES: The physical and chemical changes that occur when cookies are heated are discussed. DOWEL THROUGH BLOCK: Mr. Wizard and Christian discuss the role of inertia with the ways to put a new head on a hammer. BLACK BEARS OF MAINE: This black bear cub was found abandoned and was reported to the Inland Fisheries Wildlife Department of the State of Maine. After an examination, such orphans would usually be turned over to a zoo but not this cub. He’ll be placed with a new mother bear as part of an unusual program for bear research. METAL DETECTOR: Mr. Wizard explains to Darren that the battery in a metal detector can be adjusted to balance two coils in the apparatus. When the coil that sends a wave into the ground encounters a bit of metal, it goes out of balance and a signal is generated.

CLOCK REACTIONS: Darren dissolves some starch in a glass of water and adds iodine + 2 other ingredients. There is a change and a chemical reaction - see what happens!! IMPOSSIBLE TRIANGLE: With one eye, Ashley looks at a three‑dimensional wooden triangle on a stand. The sides appear to be in different planes, yet come together to form the figure. They examine the optical illusion. DRILL BIT: You don't often think of common objects as works of art, but here's an everyday illustration of the artistic idea that form is determined by function. The form is a simple inclined plant of hard metal that pushes material as it turns. BLOW INTO BOTTLE: Bibi is shown a large glass with a one hole stopper with a soda straw running through it. One end of the straw goes to the bottom of the bottle which has colored water in it. The other end has the small spout of a medicine dropper attached to it. See what happens. MIRROR FUN: Ryan looks at a clock in a mirror and tells Mr. Wizard the time. According to the position of the hands it is five minutes to eight, but the numbers are reversed in the mirror. ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG: Scientists can get a good idea how ancient people lived by piecing together clues at an archaeological dig like this huge one in southern Illinois. The Shell Oil Company documented the activity. ICE MELT - WILL GLASS OVERFLOW?? Karen fills a drinking glass with ice cubes. Mr. Wizard asks her to fill another empty glass with water. With a medicine dropper she fills the ice-filled glass to the brim. Will the glass overflow when the ice melts? FUN WITH LASER AND DRY ICE CHALLENGE: Bibi is shown a setup with a laser, two mirrors, and a bowl of dry ice. She drops some of the dry ice into a glass of water to make fog. Mr. Wizard turns off the room lights. Bibi finds the red beam from the laser.

BLACK BAG BALLOON: Ashley examines a black bottle with a black balloon on top and a white bottle with a white balloon on the top. The black balloon is inflated. Mr. Wizard explains what happens. ROTTEN APPLE: This illustrates one theory of how some of the earth's mountains were formed. Once this was a smooth surface, but the material below shrank just as the molten inner part of the earth did as it cooled. PICK UP GAME: Mr. Wizard and Stacey play a game with checkers the object of which is not to pick up the last checker. There are three piles of five checkers each. Each player has to pick one, two, or three checkers. They alternate removing checkers. See the clues to not pick up the last checker. ANALYZING MOON ROCKS - It’s been more than twelve years since astronauts last visited the Moon. Now because of the success of the space shuttle, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is planning to launch a permanent manned space station in Earth orbit. Once it’s built, the next logical step would be to move to the Moon. VACUUM - RADIO - SIREN: Mr. Wizard starts a siren for Eugene and explains that the noise is made by chopping the air into tiny pieces that are constantly varying in size. Eugene explains how sound goes through the air to his ear. DOUBLING MAGIC: Mr. Wizard and Stacey discuss a hypothetical situation in which she asks her employer for a raise by giving her a penny the first day and double each day's earnings day after day. She explains they had a similar problem in math with bacteria doubling their numbers. MANATEE: As you fly over the shallow water around Florida, you can look down as see the most unusual mammals in the world swimming just below the surface of the water. Learn about the possible common ancestor. TIN CAN - THEMOSCOPE - Christopher puts a plastic straw on a heater coil and watches the straw melt to show that the coil is a source of heat. STARS - TWINKLE: Bibi looks at spots of light that represent stars. The spots are twinkling by shining the light of a slide projector through a 35mm slide with tiny holes in it. ZIGZAG CODE: Stacey tries to read a word made of plastic letters. The letters are jumbled and don't make sense. Mr. Wizard tells her its in a zigzag code and tells her how to decode it:

AIR/WATER BOTTLE ROCKET: Mr. Wizard explains to Daniel how the water/air bottle rocket is released. They then pump in air, release it, and note how high it goes. SPIRAL REVERSE: Tyler stares at a spinning disk on which is a spiral that appears to be moving towards its center. When the disk is stopped, the apparent motion is reversed. COLLAPSE SODA CAN: Mr. Wizard adds water to an empty soft drink can and heats it at the stove. Bjorn explains the famous collapsing gallon can in which steam changes to water vapor. MODEL OF STEAM ENGINE: Larissa describes the tea kettle connected via tubing to a cylinder inside of which is a piston that can rise and fall as steam is admitted into the cylinder. LOGIC SOLITAIRE: Shan is challenged with a card game of Solitaire in which the face cards are lined up in rows of four with each row and each diagonal containing an Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. Mr. Wizard describes a more difficult version. QUICK QUIZ: Transparent knobs along the edge of woven fibers indicate this is something man-made. A clue: another row of knobs is brought from above and pressed into this row. The knobs interlock to close the gap usually in fabrics. An unusual view of that ingenious device: What is this?? BLOW OFF PILL BOTTLE: Mr. Wizard has poured water into a pill bottle and is going to add a headache tablet to it and explains the chemical reaction releases of carbon dioxide. Always use safety glasses. MISSING SQUARE: Brian has seen the missing square puzzle in a magazine and can explain how, when the pieces are rearranged, a square is missing in the center. HAZARDOUS WASTE SPILL AND THE COMPUTER: Mr. Wizard explains how the computer has become an important tool in helping solve environmental clean up. PH - INDICATOR AND CHALLENGE: Mr. Wizard explains that a pH meter measures how acid or base a substance is. Damon then defines an acid as something that can burn you and a base as opposite of an acid. Mr. Wizard challenges Damon - see what happens.

EARTH'S CIRCUMFERENCE: Mr. Wizard does a demonstration with Giselle using a large, round wooden table top and they note the measurements of the shadows cast by lengths of straws on the perimeter of the circle. He promises that she will be able to compute the circumference of the circle in the same way that an ancient mathematician did the circumference of the earth. See how Mr. Wizard does this. BUCKET MAGNIFIER Watch Mr. Wizard and Phillip turn a paper paint bucket into a magnifier. ADD A SQUARE: Danielle counts the squared lines on each side of a large cardboard square and multiplies 8 by 8 to calculate that there are a total of 64 squares. Is there an extra square or not? BOTTLED BALLOON: Mr. Wizard show the effect of air pressure and blowing up a balloon with Damon as well as explains. HOW MUCH SKIN: Mr. Wizard and Tyler calculate the surface of Tyler's skin using newspaper in a mathematical way. LIGHTNING: Scientists using sophisticated equipment have found that lightening can be five times hotter than the surface of the sun. See how this is equipment has helped to understand about lightning. OWL PELLET PART 1: Mr. Wizard explains to Shan how owls eat prey and consolidate undigested parts into a pellet which is expelled. By examining the pellet Shan can determine what the owl ate. She is given tools and written material to help in her investigation. PICKLE RESEARCH: Mr. Wizard adds a special ingredient to large tanks full of pickles to prevent mold and yeast from forming due a production of gases. Mr. Wizard explains the process plus new ways. OWL PELLET PART 2: Shan has bones she has removed from the owl pellet laid out on a sheet of paper and makes an educated guess as to what the owl ate.

CLOUD IN A BOTTLE: Mr. Wizard is going to explain how a cloud is formed and Loral has to decide whether the explanation is correct. BOILING RACE: Equal amounts of water are poured into two glass sauce pans. They are going to be placed on identical burners. One pan will have a cover place on it and the other will not. Which one will boil first? Shan guesses and Mr. Wizard explains. COLD EFFECT ON BODY RESEARCH: This 13-year-old boy fell through the thin ice on a lake in Minneapolis. Fortunately, as documented by KMSP-TV, he was rescued after 27 minutes in the very cold water. In spite of the extreme exposure, he suffered no permanent damage. Why? WASTE DRIPS: At the sink, Giselle sees the faucet dripping at the rate of one drop per second. Next, she measures how many drops are contained in 1 cubic centimeter of water and Mr. Wizard suggests she estimate how much water would be wasted in one month at one drop per second. CO2 IN BREATH AND BURNING: Tarek places an unlit candle in one jar and a burning candle in another. Both jars contain a small amount of a blue liquid. Tarek explains the role of a control in an experiment. When the burning candle goes out, he and Mr. Wizard shake the bottles. Tarek notes the liquid in the bottle with the burned candle changed color. Why??? CAVE CLASS: A class lecture is given about Cave Archeology where students explore Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. They learn about the how the Indians used this cave and the artifacts that can be found and their uses. ELLIPTICAL BOTTLE: Mr. Wizard fills a cylindrical bottle with water and has Larissa fill a bottle with an elliptical cross-section. She predicts that when she squeezes the round bottle something will happen as well as speaks about volume. INSECT VIEW: This is how marsh marigolds look to you. But, according to Dr. Tom Eisner of Cornell University, to an insect they probably look like this. The flowers give off ultraviolet light which we can’t see but insects can. To attract insects to help spread pollen, plants develop flowers with ultraviolet patterns that are visible only to insects. Mr. Wizard explains. MATH CODE: Bjorn adds a column of numbers. Mr. Wizard points out that the total is immaterial because the numbers are a secret code. He produces a list of numbers to show that only the first two numerals are important and each group of ten stands for a different letter.

MICROSCOPIC SAFARI PART 1: Shan is going on a safari in a fresh water pond and Mr. Wizard shows her a supply of tools she is going to use to gather and inspect her catches. He also gives her a small transparent tank, a microscope, and books with descriptions of what she might find. GAS PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE: Mr. Wizard rubs alcohol on Giselle’s hand. She notes that it feel cool. The faster moving molecules absorb heat from her hand as they evaporate. Mr. Wizard explains what serves the same purpose to keep her cool. He also explains heat absorption. WHITE TAIL DEER: If you have ever seen a wild deer, chances are it was a white tailed or Virginia deer, the most common wild animal in North America. Mr. Wizard explains where the name from. CANTILEVERED BOOKS: Tyler is going to support a book in what looks like a position beyond its support. Mr. Wizard shows him how to move the top book so that it is about to fall and then move it back slightly. He does the same with the second book. Tyler takes over and by the time he has positioned the fifth book, the top book is definitely beyond the edge of the sixth and seventh book on the desk. COLLAPSE SODA BOTTLE: A famous demonstration in which a gallon metal can filled with steam collapses when it is cooled is described by Mr. Wizard. They are going to do a similar stunt with a plastic bottle using only hot water. MICROSCOPIC SAFARI: Shan has returned with the small aquarium in which there is a supply of pond life. She has included several small fish, a caddis fly larva, water beetles, and water plants. LONGER THAN TALL: Erin is doubtful that she is longer than she is tall in spite of the fact that Mr. Wizard claims she is. Mr Wizard explains the scientific reason for this and does a demonstration. NORTHERN LIGHTS: One of nature’s most spectacular displays is the Aurora Borealis. The sky over the poles glows red, white and green when particles spewed out by the Sun are captured by the Earth’s magnetic field and collide with the gases in the upper atmosphere. COORDINATED SYSTEMS: With an instant camera, Mr. Wizard takes a picture of Damon. He then challenges Damon to find an example of the fourth dimension on the desk on which are a ruler, piece of string, notebook, map, box of sugar cubes, measuring glass, toy refrigerator, and a record turntable. Mr. Wizard explains.

COLORED SHADOWS: Shan knows that the primary colors in pigments are red, blue and yellow and in light they are red, blue and green. Mr. Wizard does a demonstration with light. CORN STARCH: Evelyn is stirring two pounds of corn starch and three cups of water in a dish. They pour it into a large tray and Mr. Wizard brings his hand down hard on the surface of what looks like a liquid. It does not splatter as one would expect. RAINBOW SHELTER: Ordinarily farmers need the rain to water their crops like this corn. But to keep the rain off the corn is the purpose of these two large buildings at Michigan State University’s Research Farm. See how a computer is involved with helping corn not get too much rain. PERIODIC MOTION: Maria identifies only one example of period motion: a simple pendulum . To change the period she knows the length of the string must be changed. Mr. Wizard shows her other examples. PAPER FLOWER OPENS: Lorilee folds the four petals of a paper flower following Mr. Wizard’s example. BREATHING MEASUREMENTS: With a strip recorder registering her breathing, Giselle breathes normally to establish a regular pattern. Mr. Wizard has her take deep breaths to see the increase in height of the line on the recorder. Mr. Wizard explains the effect of this on your digestive track and lungs. WHAT IS THIS: It’s not a section of the earth from out of space. The color has not been computer enhanced to increase contrast. The color is there naturally even as you eat. The specialized leaves inside the head of red cabbage. COIN ON HOOPS INTO BOTTLES - Ben drops a quarter into a large bottle to see that the opening is large enough to admit the coin. Mr. Wizard then positions the coin on the top of a large embroidery hoop balanced on top of the bottle. Ben is to yank out the hoop and predicts that the coin will drop into the bottle. See what happens . BLACK BEAR OF NC: In a forest in North Carolina, Dr. Roger Powell nails a can of sardines to a tree. Why? Bears can smell the sardines a long way off. Since they are the only animal strong enough to pull the can off the tree, when Dr. Powell spots an empty sardine can, he knows a bear has been in the area. They tag the bear to observe its behavior. SUN WATER PURIFIER: In a small wash tub, Philip puts in salt water , food coloring, and leaves of grass to simulate water unfit to drink. He places a cup in the center of the tub. Mr. Wizard helps him cover the tub with plastic sheeting in the center of which he puts a stone to form an inverted cone.

EYES VS EARS: Maria believes her eyes are more sensitive to light than her ears are sensitive to sounds because she can see many different color. Mr. Wizard does a test for the eyes sensitivity to light and a test for the ears and their sensitivity to sound and does a comparison. NORTHERN LIGHTS: The light in the sky doesn’t look like a neon sign but the principle is the same. Energy from a source, electricity in the sign, and here from the Sun, excites molecules. In the signs are molecules of neon gas, in the sky, they’re molecules of gases in the air. Mr. Wizard explains why the gases near the Earth's poles produce a curtain of color in the sky. EGG OSMOSIS: Lorilee is going to do experiments involving osmosis. Her first step is to pour vinegar over an egg as well as place the egg in salt water. Mr. Wizard does a comparison of the 2 experiments and explains why this happens. PROPELLAR CART: A battery-operated motor is spinning a propeller mounted on roller-skate wheels which Mr. Wizard calls a propeller cart. Larissa says that it will move across the desk when he lets go of it. Mr. Wizard explains how the low pressure cart on the front of the spinning propeller allows atmospheric pressure to push the cart forward. EGGS OSMOSIS PART 2: As Lorilee reads the definition of osmosis in a dictionary, Mr. Wizard points out parts of a model that represent the liquids and semi-permeable membrane involved in osmosis. She then shows him the eggs she first placed in vinegar to dissolve the shells. Then she put the shell-less eggs in distilled water and salt water at intervals of two days. See what happens - Which solution got the eggs smaller and which caused the egg to get larger?? FLAME TEST - Mr. Wizard teaches Giselle about analytical chemistry. She reads the labels of three bottles of chemicals: sodium chloride, boric acid, and strontium nitrate. Next, Mr. Wizard challenges her to identify the liquids in three small beakers and gives her new safety pin “loops” to use. T -PUZZLE: Daniel tries to assemble cardboard pieces into a T shape without success until Mr. Wizard suggests he do what? RUNNING BACKWARDS: The picture’s not running backwards, the man is. Scientists at the University of Toledo have found that exercising only in the forward direction tends to over-develop the muscles in the back of the legs. An explanation is given as to the benefits of running backwards for the legs. FINGER SNAP IDENTIFICATION: Tarek snaps his fingers in front of a microphone and a representation of the sound appears on the computer screen called a sonogram. Mr. Wizard explain the scientific uses of a sonogram to analyze other sounds as well as compares his snap to Tarek and explains why they are different in sound. PAPER CUP CHALLENGE: Danielle is challenged to measure out 400 ml of water using only a 500-ml and a 300-ml cup. She thinks it’s impossible. See what Mr. Wizard suggests.

MICROSCOPE SOLUTIONS: Mr. Wizard uses a microscope as a tool for magnification and challenges Tyler. Mr. Wizard zooms the lens so that 2.5 mm are visible on the screen and Tyler calculates the magnification. How long is the eye of a tiny needle? Mr. Wizard also show the magnification of a candle. MAGNETIC FIELDS: Mr. Wizard sprinkles steel filings on a piece of paper which a line themselves up in a rough circle so that Danielle suspects there is a magnet under the paper. Mr. Wizard places an N over the circle and then covers the paper with the filings and Danielle examines the lines of force and determines how many poles there are. WEIGHT, MASS AND BYOYANCY: Mr. Wizard explains to Sammy how the same weight and mass have different buoyance factors in water. What happens when they are places in a tank of water??? CLOTHES PIN FIRE ALARM - Tarek follows the wires on a homemade fire alarm, the key element of which is a spring-type clothespin. The jaws of the clothes pin are held apart by a small piece of candle wax. If the jaws come together, the two wires will touch to complete an electric circuit which will ring a bell and produce a surprise. WHAT IS THIS?? When you eat it, you don’t care that it’s not a perfect cube although under other conditions it could be. This highly-magnified view shows the action of water and heat during baking to deform the salt crystals on the surface of this. What is it?? CLAY SHIP: Shan has just finished a sheet on which she is going to record data as she and Mr. Wizard investigate why something sinks or floats. See the many different steps and what happens HEADACHE TABLET MYSTERY: Two identical glasses are filled with water and turned upside down in dishes of water. Mr. Wizard puts a headache table in the water in each glass and explains the changes that take place. Why do these changes occur? The mystery is solved. CITY STREETS: You might think that a huge city like New York is the last place that scientists would come to study trees. However, there are more than two and a half million trees growing along the city streets. Most of them don’t live as long as those growing in more rural environments - Find out why?? EINSTEIN ILLUSION: Giselle is looking at the image of Einstein which appears to be normal until Mr. Wizard turns it around. See what Giselle now sees as well as the movement of the face. How does the mind interact with what Giselle’s sees?? SOLID, LIQUID AND GAS: Mr. Wizard explains to Brianna the different states of water: ice, water and steam and how they change from one state to another depending on whether heat is absorbed or given off.

WHAT'S A MILLION?? Mr. Wizard explains what a million is and shows Michael a box of 252 sugar cubes. He then uses a mathematical direction to calculate how high a stack of that many boxes it would take to make a million. MYSTERY FOUNTAIN - Mr. Wizard adds a small amount of water to a funnel in a stopper inserted into a bottle an example of perpetual motion? Erin does an experiment which shows the effect of the supply of air and water on perpetual motion. PLAGUE OF SNAKES - This snapshot by Gordon Roda of the University of Arizona dramatizes how the island of Guam is being overrun by brown tree snakes. They probably arrived in cargo ships and with no natural enemies, have multiplied and to date have destroyed all the forest birds, three species of bats, and a variety of lizards. They’re poisonous but no deaths have been reported. There’s no easy solution to one of the most severe examples of native wildlife being destroyed by an imported species — the brown tree snake. COLLOIDS: Tyler adds powdered milk to a pitcher of water and stirs. He describes the water as cloudy and notes he can see a shaft of light going through it. Mr. Wizard explains that colloids are 2 products mixed together to make another product and shows examples of this as well as Tyler shows others that can be separated. BOTTOM OF LAKE SUPERIOR: Michigan State University, in cooperation with government agencies and other institutions, explored the bottom of Lake Superior with the research ship, Seaward Johnson, and its four person submarine. See some of the expedition’s surprises. FLOATING CANDLE: Candles are burning and floating upright in a dish of water. Ben wonders why the water is not putting the candles out. Mr. Wizard and Ben create a way to float a candle. WHAT’S THIS? Not a formation hanging from a roof of a cave. In fact, they’re seeds. While it’s true you often eat the seeds of fruits and vegetables because that’s where plants often store food, in this case, you discard them when you cut up this vegetable. what is this?? HALF LIFE OF CHEMICAL : An unknown chemical is in a vial on the desk under a probe that has recorded the radioactivity coming from the chemical. Brinna is going to identify the chemical by its half life. Mr. Wizard shows her a sample chart so she can see that the radioactivity decayed to one half in the first time period and another half in the second time period, and so on. CAMERA MEASUREMENTS: Mr. Wizard has a camera with a shutter speed set at 1/60th of a second. How accurate is it? He explains to Shan the set up of a high speed timer that is started by a beam of light and continues counting in thousandths of a second until the beam is stopped.

AMMONIA FOUNTAIN: Damon assumes that the bottle Mr. Wizard is shaking is not plain water because he can see bubbles of gas in it. When they remove the cap, the liquid bubbles out onto the counter. Damon can’t identify the new liquid but he comments that it has a strong odor. Mr. Wizard makes a fountain out of ammonia. SUPERBALL AND PEN: Both Brian and Mr. Wizard have on safety glasses as Brian watches Mr. Wizard drop a red ball that bounces less than the distance it fell because some of its energy is absorbed as it hits the ground. See what happens with the transfer of energy. SPIDER'S WARNING: Spiders spin webs with fine silk to catch insects. The finer the strands, the less chance an insect will spot them. Why then has this spider placed an obvious zig zag pattern at the center of the web? SALT VS. SUGAR: Shan is challenge to put a teaspoon of sugar into a glass of fruit drink and drink it. The sugar is in one of two bottles labeled A and B. How can she tell which is which without tasting? NEW SKID CONTROL: Finding better ways to prevent skidding on icy roads was the challenge confronting engineers at Pennsylvania State University. They found that sand spread over the ice begins to lose much of its effectiveness because as the tires continue to roll over the sand, it scattered out of the way. See what they need to do to sand to keep vehicles from skidding. HIGHER BOILING TEMPERATURE: Tarek knows that water boils at 100° C and is surprised to see that the thermometer probe with which Mr. Wizard is stirring the water in a sauce pan on the stove indicates the water is at 107°! See what they add and why the higher boiling temperature was needed. RADIOACTIVITY: A mantle from a lantern is under the probe of a Geiger counter. The count of the number of radioactive particles going through the probe is shown on the computer screen. Shan is going to be able to identify the source of the radioactivity in the mantle. Mr. Wizard shows her examples of 3 different kinds of radioactivity: alpha, beta and gamma.

DOPPLER EFFECT: Mr. Wizard is swinging something at the end of a long rope. When he stops, Daniel walks to him and says the sound of the bell (which was at the end of the rope) got higher in pitch when it was coming toward him and lower when it was going away. This change in apparent frequency is known as the Doppler effect after the scientist who investigated and explained it. To explore what happens, they go to the workshop. The doppler is now being used in weather detection. CARPET PUZZLE: A square of cardboard represents a floor and a piece of carpet represents the carpeting that is to be laid on the floor. The carpeting is shorter than the floor and the extra piece Mr. Wizard shows Lorilee is the only piece left. She doesn’t see how it can cover the bare section of the floor. Mr. Wizard solves the puzzle. BLOW TORCH JET: Mr. Wizard demonstrates Newton's Third Law which states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, to Nikki with the use of a blow torch, wire and skate wheel. FRUIT FLY CENTER: Bowling Green State University in Ohio. But inside, there’s something unique — the world’s largest collection of fruit flies. They have chromosomes that are the chemical genes that are the chemical codes that determine the traits of living things. RULER ROARER: A ruler tied with a length of string to a stick so that the ruler can be swung in a circle. When Mr. Wizard twirls it, the ruler makes a roaring sound and explains why the sound is produced by the ruler. TESTING FOR GLUCOSE: Mr. Wizard and Lorilee use a test kit to examine foods that contain glucose and speak of the relationship with diabetes. See how the colors on the strips change with the test performed with water, sugar water, corn syrup, lemon, tomato and soft drinks indicating a positive or negative of glucose. CLEAN UP OIL WITH ELASTOL: A new chemical Elastol is aiding in the clean up of oil spills. When Elastol is added to oil it acts like a single sheet so it can then be vacuumed off the top of the water. See how this is done for large clean up in the ocean and land. PIANO STOOL SPIN: Mr. Wizard teaches about the conservation of angular momentum. Tyler is sitting on a piano stool holding weights. He thinks when Mr. Wizard gives him a spin with his arms outstretched and then brings the weights to his chest, he will slow down because of the effect of gravity on the weights. Mr. Wizard explains and demonstrates. WHATS THIS? The white masses are greatly thickened, partially flower structures and their stalks. The modified flowers give this relative of the cabbage its name. What is it?? DINOSAUR BONES: Shan is challenged to unearth the plastic bones of a model dinosaur that Mr. Wizard buried in a large sand box in the park. They extract the backbone and one other bone so she sees how the pieces fit together. He leaves and returns when she has put the last piece into place.

MOON PHASES: With a table top planetarium Mr. Wizard and Shan revue the motions of the Earth and Moon as they revolve around the Sun. With a white ball on the end of a rod as the Moon, Mr. Wizard moves the spotlight to illuminate the Moon as the Sun does to create the Moon’s phases. WATER PESSURE: Mr. Wizard and Nikki learn about water pressure. Nickie describes how the pressure of the water feels when she’s at the surface and when she’s submerged. In both cases she feels like she is being pushed up. With a string Nickie holds a jar cover at the bottom of an upside-down lamp chimney as Mr. Wizard lowers it into water see what happens with the water pressure. BLUE GROUSE: Biologist tag and learn about Colorado's blue grouses bird and their habits. Most blue grouse remain motionless relying on their coloration to avoid being seen. A bird can also be fitted with a radio collar that goes over its head. After release, the grouse will be tracked by radio. Find out more about the habits of these birds. BUTTONS ON A STRING PUZZLE: Mr. Wizard has made a string puzzle out of leather in which a string and buttons are to be removed. Fonda describes how she could make one out of paper. She explains she would put her piece of string through the small hole and then tie on buttons larger than the hole. However, the point of the puzzle is to get the string and button off the leather without cutting the string. Mr. Wizard solves the puzzle. STOMACH ACID COLOR CHANGES: Mr. Wizard has Brinna count out 24 drops of universal indicator in a glass in which there is a magnetic stirrer. They are testing to see if antaacids work. See what happens. GARDEN HOSE MYSTERY: Ben is holding one end of fifty-feet of garden hose. Mr. Wizard is standing on the seat of a picnic table with a funnel in the other end. Ben assumes that when Mr. Wizard pours water into the funnel, the water will come out his end. In spite of the water going into the funnel, none comes out Ben’s end. To find out why they go to the workshop to learn about water pressure vs. height. HOVERCRAFT: The race started out on land, but watch. They head right into the water. This vehicle can actually sort of float over almost any kind of terrain and that is why they’re called hovercraft. See how fans aid in the development of this vehicle. WASHER ON STRING OFF FINGER: Brian has a string looped over a finger of each hand. In the center of the string is a washer. The trick is to remove the washer without cutting the string or taking it off either finger. Mr. Wizard show Brian how to do this. CLOTHESPIN ARMS ON SWIMMER - Mr. Wizard explains about buoyancy with the aid of clothespin. He uses a glass vial with weight in the bottom and two sections of a wooden clothespin represents a swimmer with his arms raised. Shan places it in water and comments that it floats, but only the ends of his arms are above the surface of the water. This condition would be similar to a swimmer in trouble and raising his arms for help. See Mr. Wizards solution to be able to float. ESTIMATING BALLS: On a drawing pad under the heading Box Method, Tyler has entered 25 in a row x 8 rows = 200 plus 4 extra = 204. This is the record of the number of plastic balls in rows in a box top. They are trying to find out the total number of balls as accurately as possible. Mr. Wizard explains other estimation techniques.