A few weeks ago, I received a kit called Project Mc2 over at the Science 2.0 mailbox and it had the compelling hook that it lets kids create a circuit and make music out of almost anything.
Challenge. Accepted. Bring on the raging river.
Actually, I have done similar experiments with my kids, using stuff to power a small light and a stop watch - using a potato, for example, allows electrolytes to send electrons zipping around while keeping the electrodes apart - but I had never done music before. It seemed plausible if the voltage of the instrument was low enough.
And this said anything that conducts electricity could be used to create electricity, plus it's a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) project for kids. I am sucker for those, but it seemed like an odd use of time when you run a non-profit. Still, I wanted to make time.
Hmmm, you know what has electricity? The brains of people with advanced degrees. And you know who I was convinced would never be able to figure this product out? You guessed it. One afternoon this week when our Internet was down (thanks, Time-Warner), under the guise of asking smart people to do a product review I decided to conduct an experiment of my own: Are scientists smarter than a six-year-old?
Don't waste any more time reading this, watch the video and see for yourself. We shortened it for brevity. As you will soon realize, we had to shorten it a lot.
P.S. The product is awesome but, kids, don't let your parents try this at home.
